The Invisible Girl
by expectopatronum267
Summary: A romance story starring a new character Elsie who begins at Hogwarts at the same time as Fred and George. This story is about the trio going through Hogwarts from their first year until their last, and the final battle.
1. Accepted at Hogwarts

**_I am new to fanfiction, so I hope you like this. People say Fred and Hermione would be a good pairing and I understand that, but she fell for Ron, so this is a story of a girl slightly like Hermione and Fred and George. Please Review! Thanks! _**

The Invisible Girl- Year 1

Ever since Elsie MacDonald could remember, she was always an outcast. The other girls at school made fun of the way she dressed and the way she always had her head in a book. The teachers loved her however which made the bullying much worse, but Elsie couldn't care less about what they said about her. She lived with her father in a house that once must have been very grand, but now looked rather shabby. Despite the fact she was born and brought up in Scotland, her accent wasn't as strong as the other people at her school, who would throw things at her when she spoke. But Elsie knew that she was lucky not having any friends, otherwise they would know what she could do. How she could make things fly about her room at home by accident, or make the girls trip without touching them. No one knew about her strange powers apart from her and her father, and he was scared for his daughter, not knowing why she was able to do such extraordinary things. One day, everything became much clear.

"Elsie, can you get the post dear?" her father calls from the kitchen and she hurries to the door and rummages through it, wondering if there has been any letters from her grandparents. Ever since her mother died when she was 7, Elsie's grandparents wrote letters frequently, making sure that their only grandchild was safe and happy, and she was, although she did think about her mother a lot. Whilst flicking through the many letters for her father Elsie came across a letter addressed to her in spindly, elegant green pen.

'Miss Elsie MacDonald,

Flinders Lane,

Muthill,

Perth' Elsie set her fathers papers on the table before turning her letter over in her hands. There was a red wax seal with a strange crest on it and she opened the letter curiously. Inside she found several pieces of parchment, which was strange, it was like the paper she found in those old books she liked to read in the library.

'Dear Miss MacDonald,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted for a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress'

Elsie stopped reading and read the letter again and again several times. Witchcraft and wizardry? She was a witch? That was how she could do all those peculiar things!

"Father!" she cried hurrying to his side,

"What is it dear?" he asked her patiently as she thrust the letter at him quickly. He began to read and his eyes glazed over in shock and his mouth fell open, he sat there rereading it for at least a quarter of an hour before he looked up at her.

"Do you want to go?" he asked her uncertainly and she nodded eagerly,

"Yes father, imagine having a witch in the family! All the things I will be able to do and to learn! It will be fascinating don't you think?" she asks him, her eyes bright in wonder.

"Then if you want to go then you must." He says proudly and she beams before reading the other letter which has the list of books and equipment she will need for the year and also directions to get to a place in London called Diagon Alley.

That month Elsie and her father went to Diagon Alley. She and her father had never been to London before so they got very lost but found themselves in a dingy pub called The Leaky Cauldron. They went round the back and the barman Tom took out a wand which Elsie admired silently. The brick wall disappeared leaving Elsie and her father free to wander the busy, bustling street filled with shops of everything from books to wands to owls and potion ingredients and much more. She got everything she needed, plus some extra books on the History of witchcraft and wizardry and more to fully acquaint herself to the new world she found herself loving much more than her old one. Her robes made her feel smart for once and not odd as her normal clothes made her feel. Her father bought all her clothes, and so she had developed a strange sense of fashion, and even now, many people were casting her odd looks as she walked with her father down the alley to Ollivander's.

"Hogwarts?" the man asks, his white fluffy hair and pale eyes round as he takes out his tape measure and measures her arm and fingers and round her head. He hands her a black case with a wand inside. It looks basic but to her it's extraordinary, she picks it up and it emits golden sparks from the end.

"Let me see, Hawthorn and unicorn hair." He says as I place it back in the case. Elsie's father pays the man in the thick gold galleons that was explained to them both by the goblins in Gringotts and her father opened a vault there for his daughter and moved all his daughter's savings there for her. For the rest of the holidays Elsie was absorbed in her school books and learnt about an evil dark wizard who was thwarted by a baby called Harry Potter.

'How could a baby stop such an evil wizard?' she thought silently to herself after finishing the chapter on Lord Voldermort. By September the first, Elsie had finished reading all her books and was prepared to embark on her education. She was sure that she would need to catch up on a few things at Hogwarts, but she felt better prepared now, learning all the incantations and wand gestures much better than before. However she knew not to practice them until she was on the train to Hogwarts for apparently if you used magic out of school or broke the wizarding law, you would be sent to an awful prison for witches and wizards called Azkaban.

Elsie and her father had to go to London several days before September the first, because it was a long way to travel from Perth, so they were well on time at Kings Cross station, but her father was worried.

"What platform is it again?" he asks her taking out his pocket watch,

"Nine and three quarters." She chirped but her father glanced at her sadly. He knew that there was no such platform, but he went along with it anyway. Suddenly his daughter spun around and watched as a plump red haired lady led her many red haired children along the platform.

"Come on Fred, George, or you'll be late. You don't want to miss your first day at Hogwarts." She says and Elsie turns to her father,

"I'll take it from here father, I'll see you during the holidays I expect." She say taking charge of the trolley and hurrying away after the lady. She watched tentatively as the eldest boy there, with cuts up his arms, ran towards the barrier and went right through it. Elsie's mouth opened slightly in awe, but she shut it before hurrying forwards to the woman.

"Excuse me Mrs!" she calls and the plump red haired woman turns to face her, "I was wondering whether you could tell me how to get onto the platform?" she said very quickly, well aware that the woman's children all had their eyes on her.

"Is it your first time to Hogwarts too?" she asks kindly and Elsie nodded quickly, "It's Fred and George's first time too." She says looking at two boys who were the same age as Elsie and identical, down to the last freckle. "Well you have to walk straight at the wall between platforms nine and ten. If you're scared dear, then I would take it at a run." She says warmly, but Elsie, who was never afraid of anything, stuck her nose in the air proudly,

"I'm not scared." She says and huffily walks calmly towards the barrier, although she does shut her eyes as she walks through it.

She moves away from the barrier in case someone tries to run through and knocks her but then gets a sight of the Scarlet steam engine. Elsie's mouth curves into a grin as she takes it in. There are children older and younger than her and parents saying goodbye to their children. Some people have toads and rats and an all manner of other creatures but Elsie is happy with her tawny owl who sits asleep in her cage on the trolley. Elsie named her Margot after her mother but some kind elderly looking wizards come forward and help get her trunk onto the train and Elsie then tries to find a seat but the only one free is in a compartment filled with the boys whose mother she asked for help earlier on. She knocked quietly on the compartment door before opening it and peering in,

"Do you mind if I sit there. I can't find another seat." She says loudly to the oldest of the four. There are the twins who are the youngest, the one with scars up his arms who must be the eldest and the middle one with glasses on the end of his nose, looking rather pompous.

"Of course, please sit down. Let me help with your trunk." He says carting it in and stowing it away for her.

"Thank you." Elsie says graciously, sitting down beside him,

"I'm sorry, how rude of me not to introduce myself. I'm Percy Weasley, and these are my brothers Charlie and Fred and George." He says shaking her hand and she smiles at them. Charlie returns it but the twins are too busy trading some strange cards.

"What are those?" she asks curiously and the twins look up at her,

"You've never seen chocolate frog cards?" one of them says, judging by the 'G' on his hand knitted jumper she guessed he was George.

"I'm muggle born." She explains using a word she had picked up from her books.

"Oh, here." Says Fred throwing her one and she catches it, "You can start collecting, each has a famous witch or wizard on them." He says smiling friendly and she opens up the packet and finds a frog inside and it hops away.

"Can you eat them?" she asks and they laugh at her as she turns red and she reads her card. She got Albus Dumbledore.

The rest of the train journey is great fun. She gets on well with Percy who tells her more about the different subjects and teachers and rules and the different houses.

"You'd better be in Gryffindor." George says,

"Why?" Elsie replies taken aback,

"Well we're bound to be. Our parents were, and so was Bill. He's left now, working for Gringotts, but so are Percy and Charlie." Fred explains,

"I would like to be in Gryffindor, wasn't Professor Dumbledore a Gryffindor?" she asks and Charlie nods,

"We have Professor McGonagall for our head of house. She's strict but she's fair." He says and she nods,

"I would definitely like to be in Gryffindor then." She says and they smile fondly at her.

"We'd better get change into our robes." Charlie says jumping to his feet and Elsie grabs her school clothes from her trunk and heads to the bathroom to change before returning to the compartment where the boys sit ready.

"Are you excited?" Fred asks and she nods urgently,

"Are you?" she asks the twins who nod in unison,

"If you're in Gryffindor though then at least we'll know someone in our dormitory and classes." George adds,

"That would be an upside. We stay in dormitories do we? That will be fun, like having friends." Elsie says,

"You already have friends." Fred says smiling at her and she returns it fully. She had never had friends before, and now she had and it was a happy feeling.

They leave their luggage on the train as Charlie and Percy instruct and they hop off the carriage and onto the platform.

"You three must go and find Hagrid, we'll see you at the start of term feast." Percy bellows over the crowd and so Fred, George and I push through the crowd as a large, giant of a man shouts above the noise.

"Firs' years! Firs' years this way, come on!" he roars and as Fred, George and I near him he looks down upon me and I get a clear look at him. His whole face is almost covered with a black mane of hair and beard and he looks rather shabby.

"Not more Weasleys?" he teases the twins, his black eyes twinkling, and I am not scared of this man.

"Fred and George, we've heard lots of stories about you Hagrid." Fred says smiling,

"Alrigh' then. I hope you behave as well as Percy is all I'm sayin. An' who are you?" he asks me kindly,

"I'm Elsie, it's very nice to meet you." I say holding out a hand and he takes it in his huge dustbin size one and shakes it.

"Well I like you Elsie. Don't you be lettin' these boys be a bad influence on you." He says and I smile brightly up at him and he leads all the first years towards a lake and we get into little boats as Hagrid bellows orders out to us. I get into one with Fred and George and the boats start moving by themselves magically, but Fred and George are mucking about with each other and they almost knock me overboard.

"Oi! Don't me messin' around of you'll get points knocked off your hous' before you even start." Hagrid warns them as the look at me apologetically.

"Sorry Elsie." They whisper together,

"Don't mention it." She replies gratefully, shuffling along the bench so she is not as close to the side of the boat.

"We were trying to find the giant squid." Fred explains grinning at her,

"Giant squid? They exist?" she asks baffled,

"And Dragons and house elves and lots of other creatures. We'll learn about them in school." George explains as her eyes widen.

"There y'are. That's Hogwarts fer you." Hagrid announces as the large castle appears in view. It looks ancient and medieval, with lights streaming from the many windows. It has many turrets and spires and looks beautiful and strong.

"Wow."

"It's so big!" squeals the other people in her year as they near the docks. We walk up a flight of stone steps until we reach a huge door.

"Everyone here? Good." Hagrid says before knocking three times on the door.


	2. The Sorting and Wanderings

Early Days

They were met by the face of a stern witch. Her grey hair tied up in a tight bun, her lips thin and her witches' hat straight and clean. She looks like someone you should not cross, and immediately gets Elsie's attention.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." She says crisply, "The start-of-term feast will begin shortly after the sorting of the houses. The sorting is a traditional ceremony and no foolishness will be tolerated." She says eyeing up Fred and George who are whispering to each other under their breath. Elsie nudges them gently with her foot and they look up becoming silent.

"Now, whilst you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points but any rule breaking and you will loose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup. Now follow me." She barks sharply and the children follow her through a pair of grand doors which open of their own accord and they walk up the middle of the room. Elsie looks around dazed, at the front of the room the teachers sit at a long table, there are four other long tables and benches stretching along the room, one for each house and the students sit at each of them watching as the newcomers walk up to the front table. The ceiling shows the night sky outside, and there are candles floating in mid air. Elsie then starts to panic, like she does before any exam. 'How will they sort us? Is it a test?' she questions herself, she would ask the twins for help but her mouth has become dry as they stand in front of all the teachers. A muddy looking witch with grey flyaway hair, a hook nosed, greasy haired man, a woman with grey hair and large glasses draped in shawls. Sitting right in the centre of the row of teachers is Professor Dumbledore, he has a long grey beard and hair, with spectacles on the end of his crooked nose. He looks fairly old but youthful as well, and his smile is welcoming.

"The headmaster has a few things he would like to say." Professor McGonagall says addressing the whole of the school and he gets to his feet.

"First years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. Mr Filch, our caretaker has asked me to remind all of you that there is no magic allowed in the corridors. Quidditch tryouts will be held in the second week of term, anyone interested should speak to their team captain." He says sitting down again,

"Now, I shall call your name and you shall come forth and place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses." Says professor McGonagall and Elsie sighs in relief.

"You just have to wear a hat? Charlie said you had to fight off a vampire." Fred whispers and Elsie looks at him shocked. Vampires are real too?

"Roger Davies!" McGonagall calls and a dark haired boy gets up and sits on a stool as the Professor places a hat on his head.

"Ravenclaw!" the hat says and I open my mouth in awe,

"The hat talks?" Elsie asks Fred and George as the room applauds as he goes and sits down with the other Ravenclaw's.

"Looks like it." George replies as the room dies down.

"Cedric Diggory!" a handsome boy goes and is sorted into Hufflepuff, more and more people get sorted but Elsie is only really paying attention half the time, she's too preoccupied listening for her own name, just in case she misses it. She hears some names though, Angelina Johnson and Lee Jordan get sorted into Gryffindor but then her name is suddenly being called.

She walks up the steps clumsily to the stool and because she is so small she has to go on tip toe to sit down properly on it. The hat goes onto her head and she can hear its voice echoing inside her brain.

"Hmmm, this is difficult. I suppose it had better be… Gryffindor!" it says aloud and Elsie beams as the hat is taken off her and she goes and joins her other house mates. More and more people get sorted until only three people remain, Fred and George and a scary looking boy.

"Cassius Warrington." Is his name and he gets sorted into Gryffindor but Elsie's new friend Angelina whispers to her,

"All the Slytherin's are meant to be really horrible. Most of them turn bad you know?" she asks and Elsie nods seriously, knowing that Voldermort and most of his supporters were from Slytherin. Naturally Fred and George are sorted into Gryffindor and Elsie applauds loudly as her friends sit opposite her and soon start speaking to the boy beside them, Lee Jordan. Dumbledore gets to his feet and raises his hands slightly,

"I have a few words for you all: Nitwit! Blubber! Now tuck in!" he says and piles and mountains of delicious food, the likes of which Elsie had never seen before appear on the table. Everyone begins to help herself and she takes some sausages and roast potatoes before asking Charlie,

"Is Dumbledore a bit odd?"

"Yes, but he is a genius. He defeated…"

"I know he defeated the dark wizard Grindelwald and was the only one Voldermort…" she says but the people listening to her gasp and Alicia squeals,

"You said his name?!"

"What, whose name?" Elsie replies bewildered,

"No one uses his name. Instead they use He Who Must Not Be Named." Percy explains fanning himself,

"I'm sorry, I'm muggle born, I don't know these things." She replies feeling her face burn,

"It's quite alright." Percy says on behalf of the vicinity.

"You were saying?" Charlie asks her kindly,

"Well, Dumbledore was the only person He Who Must Not Be Named feared." Elsie states boldly,

"Yes, how do you know?" Charlie asks puzzled,

"I read a book before I came. Apparently he's gone now, defeated by Harry Potter?"

"Oh yeah! That's a story!" Fred and George say and the whole table go on to tell Elsie about what happened that night and by the end she is halfway through a plate of sticky toffee pudding and appalled.

"That is so awful! Poor him, loosing both of his parents like that. I lost my mother but I don't know what I would do without my father." Elsie tells her new friends, and they look at her sympathetically,

"How did she die?" Lee asks and Percy looks at him distressed,

"Lee, you shouldn't ask questions like…"

"I don't know. I'm not really sure. Father never talks about it." Elsie says pondering silently about why her father has never spoken about it before, and Alicia and Angelina pats her shoulder sympathetically. After dinner a prefect shows Elsie and her classmates to the dormitory in Gryffindor tower. However when they reach a portrait of a fat lady, Elsie believes he's gotten them all lost.

"Where's the dormitory?" she asks Alicia,

"Through there." She says pointing to the painting,

"Password?" asks the fat lady and Elsie lets out a mystified noise looking around and noticing the moving staircases and the people in the paintings waving and moving from portrait to portrait.

"That's incredible." Elsie breathes,

"Get used to it." Fred says grinning at her.

"Butter beer." Says the prefect and she repeats the word several times in her head so she can remember it better. The painting swings open revealing a passageway and they all bundle through finding a warm, cosy room with a fireplace and arm chairs and desks and books.

"Boys your dormitory is up the staircase and down to your left, girls the same on your right. Your things will have already been brought up."

"I'm going to go to bed." Elsie tells the twins and the nod at her,

"We'll see you tomorrow at breakfast then."

"Will you wait for me? I don't want to get lost." She asks politely,

"If we remember." They say grinning identically and she smiles in thanks before heading up to the girls' dormitory. Because her friends aren't up yet she picks the bed closest to the window and takes out her pyjamas and gets changed before brushing her teeth. The bed is warm and cosy and she soon drifts off, dreaming of her father and the questions she would ask him in her next later and everything she will tell him about the school and her new friends. The next morning she wakes up earlier than everyone else in her dorm, Alicia, Angelina and two other girls whose names she sees on their trunks. One has blonde hair and the other has straight black, they look quite similar apart from that in height and stature, but not in looks. Their names are Julie Bennett and Katherine Saunders. She changes into her Hogwarts clothes and goes down to the common room to wait for the twins, but they do not appear.

"Percy, have you seen Fred and George?" she asks him as he emerges from the boys' dormitory,

"They've already went down to breakfast." He explains.

"Oh." She replies sadly. She really thought they would have waited for her. 'Some friends.' She thought to herself disappointedly but she followed Percy down to the great hall where Professor McGonagall handed her her timetable. She sat down by herself and helped herself to some porridge whilst trying to memorize her timetable. She had Charms with Professor Flitwick first, then Herbology with Professor Sprout, after an interval she had double History of magic with Professor Binns and then after lunch a period of flying with Madam Hooch and last a period of potions with Professor Snape.

"Hey Elsie, do you want to get some flying practise done before our lesson?" George asks me but Elsie ignores him coolly,

"What's the matter? Homesick?" Fred adds biting into a slice of toast, but she turns her back on them both.

"What's got her wand tied in a knot?" George asks his brother who shrugs his shoulders. Alicia and Angelina sit down beside Elsie and the twins lean in to speak with them both,

"Do you two want to come and get some flying practise during lunch?" Fred asks quietly,

"I would but aren't first years not allowed to fly unsupervised?" Alicia asks,

"Well yeah, but we won't get in trouble if we're not caught." George says and they laugh,

"Hey Lee, do you want to come and have a shot on a broomstick during lunch?" Angelina asks him and Elsie cannot bear it anymore. She was always responsible, and in her mind breaking rules should be met with hard discipline, but she wasn't going to turn her new friends in, just as they were starting to like her. She got to her feet and headed back to the common room and retrieving her books and her schoolbag before following Julie and Katherine to Charms.

It turned out that Elsie was much more advanced in spells and theory work than most of her classmates in almost all her subjects, and the only subject she was not the top in the class in was flying. Fred and George were rule breakers and mischief makers, they handed their homework in late, that is if they even got to their classes and Elsie started to get very bored with them. She still hadn't spoken to them since they forgot about her, but she had to admit that they were good at flying, and they were alright at charms and defence against the dark arts. Angelina and Alicia were much better at flying than her, Cedric is good as well but Kenneth Towler couldn't even get on the right way round. Nobody really liked Kenneth, which Elsie thought was a shame. He was very clumsy and not really good at anything, but he kept himself to himself and gets on with his school work as best he could which meant Elsie appreciated this, it was hard enough with Fred and George disrupting classes. Fred and George were pretty mean to him though, as well as Lee. They pulled pranks on him a lot but they wouldn't verbally or physically hurt him. They were all agreed on the fact that all the Slytherin's were horrible bullies, and Adrian Pucey and his minions Cassius and Barnaby mocked Elsie a great deal, which angered her friends, especially Fred and George who would shout insults across the classroom at them all when they jumped up and down in their seats, impersonating her.

All the teachers were impressed by how fast Elsie picked up on things and how greatly she improved and she wrote home to her father to say so. She had decided to ask him about her mother during the holidays, when they were face to face. Elsie felt strangely lonely though, she liked Alicia and Angelina but they were always with Fred and George and she refused to speak to them, even when they came to her aid in classes. They were trouble and rule breakers and she didn't approve. One day, however that all changed. She was lying asleep on the couch in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room when she heard someone walk past. She woke up and rubbed her eyes. She had fallen asleep whilst reading _Hogwarts: A History_ that she had borrowed from the library and she set it down and turned around just in time to watch Fred and George sneak out of the portrait of the fat lady. She gasped loudly and followed after them quietly but remained just in front of the passageway,

"Fred! George!" she hissed at them and they jumped and spun around,

"What are you doing here? Get back to bed! Go on!" Fred replied angrily, waving her away.

"Why are you two out of bed? You should be in bed!"

"Why aren't you?" George asks pointedly,

"I fell asleep in front of the fire." She explains and they turn their back on her and begin to wander off again, "If you don't come back now I'll… I'll… I'll tell Percy!" she finishes and they look at her gobsmacked.

"You wouldn't?"

"I would. Come back now!" she retorts and they glance at each other but continue down the corridor and she chases after them.

"You'll get yourselves expelled!"

"Go back before you get us caught!"

"Where are you going?" she asks them as they lead her down the moving staircases that she had grown accustom to now.

"Hang on, this is the way to the third floor! It's forbidden!" she says grabbing their arms and holding them back but they shrug her off.

"Fred! George, listen to me!" she cried angrily but they stopped still, listening for something. Suddenly, Filch appeared at the end of the corridor, but he hadn't noticed them.

"Quickly!" George whispered grabbing the back of Elsie's cloak and pulling her behind a pillar and out of sight.

"Now what do we do?" she asks the pair but they remain as still as the grave. Elsie lets out a sigh of annoyance and brings out her wand. She peers round the peer and points at a lamp at the end of the corridor,

"Wingardium Leviosa." She whispers and she silently makes it hover for a moment before whipping her wand to the side and she hears a loud crash as it falls to the ground, creating a diversion.

"Quickly." She says leading the twins back up to the common room at a run.

"Butter beer." Fred says to the fat lady and she swings open. The three of them look at each other awkwardly for a few seconds,

"Thanks, you saved our necks back there." Fred says after a pause,

"Your welcome." Elsie replies looking down at her black school shoes,

"We're sorry for what we did before…"

"We didn't mean it…"

"Lee was going to show us his model dragon." They say and she sighs,

"It's alright, all water under the bridge." She says and they look at her confused,

"What?" they say together.


	3. Making Enemies

Making Enemies

The weeks flew by, and Elsie, Fred and George became firm friends, despite the fact they spent most of their time with Lee Jordan and she spent most of her time with her head in books. Warrington, Pucey and Maria Hawking, a girl from Slytherin who had a face that always looked like there was a bad smell in the air, continued to pester Elsie. Shouting insults or pushing her as she walked down the corridor. They would steal her things in class and hang them about the school and she would spend most afternoons doing her homework and finding her lost possessions. Fred, George, Lee, Angelina and Alicia would help try and find them too, Fred and George were always more inclined to help as they suffered insults regularly too, but they always got their own back, but Elsie didn't want any trouble so she never tried to get her own back.

Elsie knew that she was not rich or pretty. She wasn't skinny, but nor was she fat. She had a round face, hair that always appeared to look slightly unkempt and her strange fashion sense made her number one on the Slytherin's bullying list. Elsie was doing well in all her studies and received top marks for her homework and soon became famous in the year for her brains, and among the teachers as well. Professor McGonagall developed a soft spot for her, often praising her work,

"Top marks again Miss MacDonald." She said one afternoon during transfiguration, giving her one of her rare smiles, "I wish I could say the same to the both of you." She added handing Fred and George their results. On the way to Care of Magical Creatures, Warrington and Pucey corner Elsie as she walks alone, shoving her books into her bag.

"What's up Smellsie?" Pucey mocks but she continues on her way so he takes out his wand and points it at her bag and the thing rockets into the air,

"Give it back!" she cries jumping up and down, trying to reach it as a crowd gather in the grounds, just outside Hagrid's hut.

"Say please!" Warrington teases, a devilish grin on his face.

"Please, give it back!" she wails and Pucey upturns her bag in mid air and all her books and papers tumble down onto the grass. Maria runs forward along with more of her Slytherin friends and they grab her books and throw them in different directions,

"Stop it! Stop! Please!" Elsie says bordering on the verge of tears as she watches as her precious books and work get torn to pieces.

"Oi!" two voices shout at once and Elsie turns to watch as Fred and George come running to the scene with Lee, Angelina and Alicia. The twins pull out their wands and jinx Warrington and Pucey at the same time.

"You're going to regret that Weasel boys!" Maria shouts pointing behind them and they turn just in time to see Hagrid and Filch hurrying towards them.

"Move out the way, move away!" Filch barks, his jaws quivering in excitement, "I've got you boys now!" he says grabbing the twins by the scruff of their necks and ignoring their protests and the cries from the other Gryffindor students he marches them back up to the castle.

"Clear out the lot of you, get to your classes." Hagrid says and the Slytherin's disappear quickly,

"Are yer alrigh' Elsie?" Hagrid asks her as Angelina and Alicia go and help pick up some books for their friend a short distance away.

"Hagrid, it was Pucey and Warrington that started it. They stole my books, Fred and George were just trying to…" I say but he holds out a large hand to stop me,

"I gathered tha' but they did use magic, and we didn't witness those Slytherin brutes using any." Hagrid says sadly, and I look at him desperately,

"But you believe me?" she asks him and he nods,

"I'm afraid there's nothin' I can do. Filch has got it in for the Weasley twins." He grumbles, "Now you'd better get along now, go on." He says warmly ushering her away as she picks up her last book and follows after Angelina and Alicia to Professor Kettleburn's class.

Fred and George don't turn up for the lesson and Warrington, Pucey and Hawking all look smugly at her for the rest of the lesson, but she ignores their taunts.

"Where did those Weasels go eh Smellsie?" Pucey shouts at her as she heads back to the common room with Alicia and Angelina.

"Do you think they got into terrible trouble?" Elsie asks her two friends,

"I guess so, Filch is horrible." Alicia says glumly,

"It should be those Slytherin's getting in trouble not Fred and George." Lee adds joining in on the conversation. When they reach the common room they dump their school bags in their dormitories before heading down to the great hall for dinner together. Fred and George are already helping themselves looking pleased.

"Fred, George, did you get into trouble?" Angelina asks them sliding into the seat opposite them and helping herself to some steak pie.

"We got detentions with Filch for a week." Fred says but he and George still keep smiling to themselves.

"Why do you look so pleased?" Elsie whispers to the pair,

"Later." They shush her and she bites her lip curiously but leaves it at that.

After dinner they head up to the common room together but the noise is so loud they don't get a chance to talk until a few hours later after Elsie finishes her essay for Professor Snape and Lee decides to go to bed, leaving the twins with nothing to do. They sit down beside her and she looks up from her book at them,

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" she asks them folding her arms,

"We sneaked this out of Filch's office." George says throwing her a piece of parchment, touching it with his wand and saying,

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." And suddenly writing appears on the paper.

"What is it?" she asks admiring it,

"It's a map of Hogwarts, but look…"

"It shows everyone in the castle on it." Fred finishes for his brother,

"Wow, that's… but you stole it?" she asks raising her eyebrows at them,

"It was probably there for years, it was in the extremely dangerous box, Filch wouldn't know what it was." Fred explains,

"Well, if it doesn't belong to anyone… I suppose there's no harm in keeping it." Elsie agrees and they grin at her,

"We've rubbed off on you haven't we?" George asks and she laughs,

"Thanks for helping me out by the way." Elsie says gratefully,

"Your very welcome. Now we must go and plot our revenge with Lee. Goodnight." The twins say and she smiles after them.

Elsie's father wrote to her to tell her that he was going away on business for Christmas and that she should stay at Hogwarts. She was sad she wasn't going to see her father again for another few months, but most of her friends were staying, including the twins so she was looking forward to having some fun without worrying about homework. Her and her friends had reached a certain arrangement. She would sit on the grass in the grounds and watch as her friends rode the broomsticks the twins had snuck out of the school and if she saw any teachers or prefects coming their way, she would raise her wand and shoot sparks into the air and her friends would hide in the bushes. She would also occasionally help them with their homework or replicate her notes for them if they weren't paying much attention in class, in return they did truly become her friends and would stand up for her when the Slytherin's or anyone else was being mean or rude to her. She also made friends with Cedric in Potions, which was by far his worst subject, she would hiss directions to him so that Professor Snape didn't hear her and though they were in different houses, he came to her aid on several occasions as well, which annoyed Fred and George.

"Why are you and pretty boy so close all of a sudden?" George asks over lunch,

"Don't call him that, he's a friend of mine now. He's been keeping the Slytherin's off my back."

"So have we!" they say together,

"Yes but we're already friends." She replies, however she was soon getting taunted by someone else. Professor Snape himself.

"Can anyone tell me what a Bezoar is?" he asks the potions class one day, his voice dangerous and Elsie raises her hand quickly and Warrington jumps up and down in his seat, making a horrible face, imitating her.

"Anyone apart from Miss MacDonald?" he says looking over her as if she was a worm. When no one else raises their hand he sighs deeply, "Well then, let's hear what you have to say." He says to her,

"A Bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and will save you from most poisons."

"The precise answer given in _Magical Drafts and Potions._" He says and the Slytherin's laughter echoes around the dungeon. "Do you pride yourself in being an attention seeking know it all?" he asks her and she looks up at him in detest,

"Well that's not fair! Just because she got the answer right!" Lee Jordan exclaims and Snape looks across at him,

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Jordan for your cheek. Anymore and it will be detention!" Snape bellows. After the class Alicia and Angelina catch up with Elsie who is battling through the crowds to get to the common room.

"Cheer up Elsie, Snape is mean to everyone, well except the Slytherin's." Angelina comforts,

"Thanks, but that doesn't really make me feel any better. I'll see you both later." She replies hurrying up the stairs, but after dumping her bag she doesn't go down to the great hall, instead she heads to the girls bathroom and locks herself in a cubicle. The silence is nice to her but then she hears someone wailing and she opens the door slightly and sees a ghost of a girl in Ravenclaw robes, her hair dark and her glasses large.

"Where did you come from?" she barks at Elsie,

"From the cubicle." She replies calmly, "What's your name?"

"Myrtle." She replies coldly,

"I'm Elsie. What are you doing here Myrtle?" she asks quietly,

"I'm dead, or did you not notice? Or did you just come here to tease me!" she shouts at her,

"I haven't come to tease you. I came here to get away from the teasing." Elsie explains and she looks at her sharply,

"People have been bullying you?" she asks and Elsie nods,

"A lot. Even the teachers." she says sitting on the bathroom floor sadly,

"They didn't come looking for me for hours after I died." Myrtle replies with relish,

"That's awful!"

"Yes, I came back to make sure they didn't forget me again, and repay Olive Hornby for teasing me about my glasses." She explains,

"Well I guess we've found some mutual ground. I must be heading back to my common room." Elsie says and Myrtle looks at her sadly,

"Will you come back to visit sometime?" she asks and Elsie nods,

"I'll try to."

When Elsie returns to the common room Angelina and Alicia run towards her angrily,

"Where did you go? We were worried! We thought something had happened to you!" Alicia says,

"I'm fine, really. I wasn't hungry." She replies amazed by her friends concern.

"Well you could have told us at least." Angelina says as they find an empty corner in the common room and Elsie tells them all about Myrtle.

"Not moaning Myrtle?" Alicia asks horrified,

"Yes, why?"

"She's horrible. Always screaming at us for doing nothing." Angelina says,

"She seemed alright to me."

"Everyone seems alright to you." Alicia replies exasperated.

That Christmas Elsie receives presents from her father and grandparents and she changes into her strange assortment of clothes and goes and plays in the knee high snow with her friends before sitting down and conversing with Charlie and Percy about their O.W.L's.

"Of course they will be difficult, but I am looking forward to them of course, it will show what I will be able to do when I leave." Percy says,

"But your O.W.L's aren't for another year Perce." Fred says,

"Well it doesn't mean that I can't think about them Fred, I suggest you do the same." He snaps at his younger brothers who exchange amused glances with Elsie who shakes her head in exasperation. The rest of the school year passes rather quickly, and Elsie soon has all her notes from previous classes and school books and revises all her work since the start of the year. She is disappointed that her friends don't do the same.

"You know that if we fail we could get expelled?" she asks them,

"We'll look over them closer to the time." Fred says waving an airy hand.

"We only have two weeks! You two…" she says angrily storming away to the library to get some quiet as they light some of Dr Filibuster's fireworks.

"I heard that the end of year exams were extremely difficult, but I felt that it was rather simple." Elsie says two weeks later to the twins,

"Well goodie for you." George says as Fred rolls his eyes,

"You didn't?" Elsie asks them and they shake their heads, "Well I did tell you to revise sooner."

"Don't nag us, we already get enough of that with our mother." Fred says and she bites her lip,

"Sorry. I didn't mean to. Are you two doing anything during the holidays?" she asks them and they shake their heads.

"We never really do anything. We don't have enough money to go anywhere." Fred says unabashed,

"Oh, well then you don't have an excuse to not write to me then." She says and they laugh at her,

"Sure, we'll write every day." George says sarcastically and she laughs. When they get their results for the test, Elsie passes with flying colours, and even Fred and George did extremely well.

"So come on, tell us you're proud." Fred teases one evening as Elsie writes to her father telling him she passed.

"Fine, I'm proud."

"So you have to deal with us for another six years." George adds,

"I can hardly contain my excitement." She replies and they grin at her as she puts the letter in Margot's mouth and she flies out the window into the night.

Soon they are packing, getting ready for departure and when they reach Hogsmeade station Elsie sits in a compartment with Fred, George, Lee, Alicia and Angelina and they let of stink bombs in the Slytherin's compartment and while they laugh about it, Elsie sits with her head in a book as usual as Warrington, Pucey and Maria run down the corridor clutching their noses.

"You'll get all of us expelled one day." Elsie says dreamily absorbed in her book,

"No we won't. You're too bright to be expelled." Lee praises and Elsie beams at him,

"Thank you Lee." Cedric Diggory opens the compartment door and looks at Elsie,

"Hi. I was just wanting to say thanks for helping me out in potions. I don't think I would have passed my exam otherwise." He says as Patricia Stimpson, Wendy Carlisle and John Anders hang about in the corridor waiting for him.

"Thanks Cedric, see you next year." She replies graciously,

" Bye Cedric!" everyone calls and Elsie waves goodbye to the other Hufflepuff's who she gets on quite well with at school and soon Hogwarts and its marvellous scenery are behind them.


	4. Second Year

_**Thanks for reading this! Just so you know, soon it will get much more exciting when Harry, Ron and Hermione come to Hogwarts, because then there will be a basic plot but of course it will still be surrounding, Elsie, Fred and George. Please review! Oh, and I don't own the rights to Harry Potter. **_

Year 2

Elsie hugged her father in goodbye on platform nine and three quarters on the first of September, looking forward to her second year at Hogwarts.

"Do you want to come home for Christmas?" he asks her and she shakes her head. Ever since she returned home the relationship between her and her father had become strained. When she had asked him about how her mother died he had replied with,

"You are too young to know. Maybe some other time." This had annoyed her to no end, and when she wrote to Fred and George they had advised her to use magic to trick him into telling.

Dear Fred and George,

I am not using magic outside of school! Are you destined to get yourselves locked up in prison? I hope your family are well, and you are leaving Percy alone so he can concentrate on his work. I can't wait to see you both again; it's been rather lonely stuck here on my own.

From Elsie

The letter she had gotten back from the twins told her they had bought a vast quantity of dungbombs and she knew that Percy was going into his fourth year, and although he still had a year left before his O.W.L's he was driving Fred and George mad by going on about them already.

Elsie struggled to get her trunk onto the train and then she had the difficulty of finding her friends. She avoided the carriage the Slytherin's always sat in, because she didn't want to start the new term with them making fun of her. She found Angelina and Alicia sitting with a first year in a compartment.

"Elsie! How are you?" Angelina asked,

"I'm fine thank you, how are you both?" she replies warmly,

"We had a great holiday, Elsie this is Katie Bell, she's starting Hogwarts." Alicia says and Elsie waves kindly to the first year before sitting down and starting to read one of her new Charms schoolbooks for the second time.

"Oi, Angelina, Alicia are you trying out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" Fred asks as he, George and Lee enter the compartment and sit down. They don't seem to notice Elsie until after they have their conversation with the others about Quidditch. They all seem to get on well with Katie who would like to tryout when she gets into her second year too. Apparently she loves the game, just like the others.

"Oh, hello Els." George says in realisation,

"Hello." Elsie replies dazedly before continuing reading. The lady with the trolley comes down the train and Elsie takes out some silver sickles and buys some chocolate frogs for the journey.

"Does anyone here want Dumbledore? I've already got him." she says and she hands the card to Alicia.

When they arrive at Hogsmeade they leave their trunks on the train before getting into the carriages. As usual they are pulling themselves like always, and they have to sit close together to get everyone on it before it rattles up to the castle. Elsie sits quietly beside her friends after the sorting, as they gossip and Fred and George plan a way of winding up Filch, but Sir Nicholas floats past her and she turns to speak to him,

"Sir Nicholas, were you accepted for the headless hunt?" she asks politely,

"No, again I was denied. But thank you for asking Elise." He says and she sighs,

"That's not my name." she whispers under her breath.

"Nearly headless Nick, do that thing with your head again." George says and Nick sighs disappointedly and almost removes his head from his neck before placing it back in position again. Katie squeals in fright and Lee, George and Fred laugh loudly before continuing their story about trolls. They head back to the common room together and Elsie goes to sleep earlier than her other friends and wakes up first the next morning.

She is pleased to get back to her classes after breakfast though, however the twins are not and on the first day back they are given detention from Professor Snape for letting of a dungbomb in the class and they have points taken from them by Professor Sprout for tricking Kenneth Towler into not wearing his earmuffs properly whilst they re-potted Mandrakes.

"You're lucky he didn't die!" Elsie hisses at them over lunch,

"Calm down Els, he's going to be fine."

"He might not have been though! You both are the most irresponsible warts I have ever had the chance to meet! Kenneth gets teased awfully by everyone, I would have thought his own house mates would stand up for him." she says picking up her books and storming away to their next lesson, leaving the twins looking dumbstruck. They meet her outside Transfiguration before the bell goes and say looking ashamed,

"We're sorry." They say together,

"It shouldn't be me you're apologising to. At lunch we'll go and see Kenneth in the hospital wing and you can apologise to him." she says proudly and they roll their eyes,

"Alright then. Look there's Lee, let's see if he's got that Bowtruckle or not." Fred says to his brother and they hurry over to their best friend.

At lunch they go and visit Kenneth in the hospital wing and he looks nervously at Fred and George as they near him.

"It's alright Kenneth, they're here to apologise. Aren't you?" she asks the twins,

"We're sorry Kenneth." They murmur,

"I know no one likes me, I thought at least people I share a dormitory with would be nice to me." He says stiffly,

"I'm your friend Kenneth!" Elsie cries,

"I know Elise." But she doesn't correct him, guessing that he's probably still not fully well.

"We'd better get back to classes." She says picking up her bag,

"Alright. Thanks for coming." Ken says as they leave the hospital wing.

Elsie and her friends soon get accustomed to life back in the castle, Dumbledore is as strange as always and the other teachers, apart from Snape, are pleased with the work Elsie produces are amazed by how advanced she is. The twins, Angelina and Alicia all get onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team and Elsie tears herself away from her homework to watch them play their first match against Slytherin. She wraps her scarf around her neck and goes up to the stand by herself but she stands beside Katie Bell who has become part of her little group of friends. Soon her friends are flying about and the game gets underway. Elsie cheers and chants along with her other Gryffindor's. Fred and George make great beaters, they hit the bludgers towards the Slytherin team while Angelina and Alicia score several times, but in the end Slytherin win by getting the snitch. At dinner the Slytherin's shout insults at the Gryffindor's which angers Fred and George but Elsie grabs their arms and forces them to sit back down.

"Leave it, you'll only get yourself into trouble." She warns as they clench their fists angrily.

"Hey Weasels, where did you get those brooms you were flying on eh? Did your parents have to sell their pigsty of a house? I doubt it would fetch that much!" Warrington shouts but Elsie grabs Fred and George by the collars and sit them back down.

"Don't listen to him Fred, George!" she says loudly as Lee sits down opposite them,

"Just ignore them mates." He says to them and Elsie gets to her feet,

"Where are you going Ellie?" Lee asks,

"It's Elsie. I need to go to the library, I'll see you later." She corrects him, storming off.

"What's wrong with her?" Lee asks watching her go and the twins shrug their shoulders.

In most of her classes Elsie sits by herself, Cedric has made many new friends since the start of time as he now is on the Quidditch team for Hufflepuff and sometimes crosses a few rules. He is very popular within the year and doesn't seem to want to sit with Elsie anymore, which she understands. But it's unusual when he chooses to sit beside her in transfiguration again during the third week of term.

"Hello Elsie, did you have a nice summer?" he asks her and she nods,

"What about you?" she replies,

"Yes it was good. It's good to be back though, isnt it?" he asks and she nods, "I'm sorry I haven't spoken to you sooner."

"It's alright, your in with the cool people now, you don't want to be friends with someone like me."

"You are my friend Elsie!" he exclaims and she smiles at him,

"Really?"

"Yeah!" he says indignantly,

"Thanks Cedric."

"Oooh Cedric fancies Smellsie!" Maria Hawking shouts across the classroom and soon all the Slytherin's are chanting it,

"Shut your mouth Hawking!" Lee Jordan shouts at them all,

"No, just leave it, Lee." Elsie says quietly,

"What's going on? Stop this nonsense at once!" Professor McGonagall says entering the room and everyone becomes silent. "Five points will be taken from Slytherin for disruptive behaviour." She says strictly. As usual Elsie masters the new charm first in the class but Professor McGonagall calls her back after class.

"MacDonald, may I have a word?" she asks and she glances at Angelina and Alicia and nods at them and they follow the rest of the class out of the classroom.

"Are you alright MacDonald?" McGonagall asks her kindly,

"Yes thank you Professor." She replies embarrassed, she didn't like it when people pitied her.

"As your head of house if you have any troubles you may speak to me about them."

"I don't want any trouble Professor." She replies quietly,

"You shouldn't take comments like that from anyone MacDonald. You are one of the brightest pupils I have had the pleasure to teach, if you have any worries you should speak to me or Dumbledore." She says warmly,

"Thank you Professor." She replies timidly,

"Well then, you may go." She says dismissing her and Elsie hurries away to the great hall for dinner.

"Where's your boyfriend Smellsie?" Pucey calls across the room but Elsie keeps her head down as she sits at the end of the table by herself. After several minutes of playing with her untouched food Fred and George sit either side of her.

"Are you alright Els?" Fred asks concerned,

"You shouldn't listen to them. You don't smell." George teases,

"Thanks guys."

"Unless they're right about Diggory being your boyfriend?" Fred adds and Elsie lets out a cry off annoyance,

"Cedric is my friend alright! You both should lay off him, you're so mean to him when he has never done anything bad to you."

"Sorry, we don't meant to be mean…" George says,

"Of course you don't it just comes naturally." She replies stonily back, "See you tomorrow." She says getting to her feet and marching off up to her dormitory to finish her homework.

The Weasley twins soon get their own back on the Slytherin's. They use a jinx on them during lunchtime to make them dance up and down between the four tables in the great hall in front of the whole school. All the students erupt into hysterical laughter and Elsie reluctantly smiles slightly,

"We promise not to be mean to anyone else unless they deserve it." Fred says and she grins at them,

"Thank you, both of you." She says to Fred and George,

"Did you get your own back Eliza?" Alicia says sitting down beside her at the table,

"Elsie." She corrects,

"Oh, yes. Sorry." Alicia says hastily.

"No, everyone does it." She replies sadly as Lee Jordan and Angelina come hurrying to the table,

"I can't believe you did it!" Lee says patting Fred and George on the head,

"Look, Dumbledore's come to sort them out!" Angelina whispers as Professor Dumbledore raises his wand at the group of second year Slytherin's and they stop dancing about.

"I bet you're going to pay for that." Angelina whispers to the twins,

"We'll like to see them try." They reply together, mischievously.

Cedric and Elsie become firm friends and sit together in most classes. He doesn't tend to speak to her outside of class though, but this doesn't annoy her as he is normally surrounded by his Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw friends that she doesn't know well and doesn't want really want to get to know. The only two people out of her house that she gets on reasonably well with is Patricia Stimpson from Hufflepuff and Roger Davies of Ravenclaw, although he can be rather an idiot at times. Fred, George and Lee are the jokers of the whole school it seems, much to the annoyance of Percy,

"I shall write to mother if you don't start behaving!" he warns them to their horror. Students in the year below and the years above us all love watching Fred and George prank the school and getting themselves into trouble, but one day they take things too far. Elsie, Angelina and Alicia are walking back up to the Gryffindor common room when Hagrid strides forwards with Fred and George, almost hanging off the ground because of the fact Hagrid is holding them by the back of their collars.

"What have you done now?" Elsie hisses at them angrily as Lee, Angelina and Alicia laugh.

"Hagrid what is going on?" Professor McGonagall inquires hurrying down the marble stairs,

"I foun' these two in the forest, Professor. They were havin' a conversation with the centaurs." Hagrid says emphasising the word conversation. Elsie casts a disapproving look at the twins who grin at her identically. Professor McGonagall goes on a large rant about breaking school rules to the twins, before docking them a considerable number of points and putting them in detention for a fortnight.

"How could you have been so stupid? You could have been killed! Who knows what lies in the Forbidden forest!" Elsie demands as they enter the common room a while later,

"We were trying to find a giant Tarantula." George explains,

"I don't care if you were looking for Dragons or Unicorns! How could you have been so reckless!?" she shouts at them,

"Give them a break, Elise." Angelina says,

"It's Elsie!" she shouts back at her,

"Really, Elsie what is all this noise about?" Percy asks pompously appearing from the boy's dormitory. Fred and George cast a worried look at Elsie but she opens her mouth boldly and states,

"Fred and George were found speaking to Centaurs in the Forbidden forest." The twins' mouths fall open in shock and Angelina, Alicia, Katie and Lee gasp appalled that she told on them.

"Fred, George! I shall be writing to mother immediately! How could you dare enter the Forbidden forest, never mind breaking many school rules in the process?" Percy says going on at them as Elsie sneaks off up to the girl's dormitory.


	5. Forgiveness

_**For anyone reading this, it says romance in the summary and don't worry, there will be some to come! **_

Forgiveness

Elsie wakes up the next morning and finds that none of her friends want to speak to her. At breakfast Angeline and Alicia turn their back on her and refuse to speak to her, and when Fred and George arrive at the table they don't even look at her.

"I wouldn't be upset about it, Elsie. You don't want to get yourself involved in their mucking around." Percy says, trying to comfort her but failing dismally. When the post comes Margot the owl delivers a letter to Elsie who opens it quickly. It turns out to be from her father.

"Dear Elsie,

I'm sorry that you can't come home for Christmas. I understand you have a lot on your mind at the moment, and I'm glad you're doing well at school. I'll send you another letter on Christmas. I have to say I am getting peculiar looks from the neighbours because of Margot flying around all the time.

Love from,

Dad.'

Elsie feeds some crusts from her toast to Margot who then flies away.

A red envelope arrives for Fred and George who open it, their faces horror stricken as it starts to spark at the seams.

"FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU ENTER THE FORBIDDEN FOREST! HAVE YOU ANY REGARD FOR THE RULES? YOUR FATHER AND I ARE RECEIVING ALMOST DAILY OWLS OF YOUR BAD BEHAVIOUR AND WE COULD DIE OF SHAME! IF YOU CONTINUE THIS WAY THEN WE WILL BRING YOU HOME IMMEDIATELY!" the letter shrieks as Elsie looks horrified as it bursts into flames.

"I told you…" Percy begins pompously,

"Leave it Percy." Charlie says wearily as Fred, George and Lee stand up and storm away as the Slytherin's laugh at them.

"See, why do you have to be such a spoilsport?" Angelina hisses to Elsie who looks hurt as her friends get up from the table and storm away.

Over the next few weeks Elsie became even more teased and taunted by everyone around her. The only person she could really call her friend was Cedric, and he stuck by her all the time.

"Just ignore them Elsie, they're just sour because you're cleverer than them." He tells her kindly as Maria and her Slytherin gang of girls make fun of her attire.

"Thanks Cedric." She replies gratefully. At every opportunity Elsie tried to make amends with her Gryffindor chums, but they wouldn't speak to her at all.

"Fred, George, do you want me to help with your homework?" she asks them one evening in the common room as they sit at a desk working on an essay for Charms. When she draws near they gather up their stuff and move away making her feel even worse. Elsie starts to skip meals, knowing that her old friends would be gossiping about her and she spent more and more time in the library or hanging around with Cedric and his Hufflepuff friends, although they got annoyed with her after a while so she decided to take her work to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. A week before term ends for the Christmas holidays and after Gryffindor is beaten again at Quidditch by Ravenclaw the Gryffindor's trundle back up to the castle dejectedly.

"Oi, Weasels, that was the worst game I've ever seen!" Barnaby Jones calls across the crowd and Elsie watches as her friends keep walking looking tense.

"Shut your mouth Jones!" Angelina says,

"Ewww what's happened to you Johnson? It looks like you have worms sticking out of your head." Hawking says shrilly, before laughing with her friends,

"I must agree, your flying is as bad as your families' reputation, you're all a waste of magic." Cassius Warrington insults and Fred and George lunge towards him but Lee and Alicia hold them back, but no one restrains Elsie as she hurries forward and punches Warrington in the face.

The crowd lets out a gasp and then laughter as Warrington and the other Slytherin's hurry away,

"Not a word to anyone or you'll pay!" they hear Warrington shouts to his friends. Elsie looks around at the witnesses for her unbelievable act. Fred and George are grinning at her and Alicia, Angelina, Katie and Lee look at her in awe.

"Elsie! I'm going to have to report this you know!" Charlie says striding up to the castle with his friends. At dinner Fred and George express their pride in their friend.

"I can't believe you punched him!" Lee says amazed as Fred and George hit their cutlery off the table chanting,

"She punched him! She punched him! She punched slimy Warrington!"

"I don't know what came over me." Elsie says looking dazed at her own behaviour.

"I guess we've been a good influence on you." Fred says winking at her and she shakes her head,

"I'm lucky not to have been put in detention!" she says horrified at the thought.

"Well, it's good to have our friend back." Alicia says smiling at her and she returns it happily.

On Christmas day Elsie changes into her new jumper her father sent her which is a strange blue/black colour with a yellow star and moon on the front and a pair of trousers before picking up two presents and heading along to the boy's dormitory.

"Merry Christmas." She says happily as she stands between Fred and George's bed.

"Bloody hell!" George says pulling the covers up to his chin,

"What are you doing here?" Fred exclaims horrified,

"I came to give you your Christmas presents." She says holding them out to them both and they take them,

"Thanks." They say in unison. Inside the wrapping paper are diaries and Bertie Bott's every flavour beans.

"Thank you." They say again although they discard the diaries.

"It's so you can plan your homework in!" Elsie exclaims beaming at them and they nod awkwardly,

"This is for you." Fred says handing a small package to her, "It's not much." He adds as she opens it and finds a book entitled _Spell Binding Spells for Beginners! _

"Thanks! I've been wanting a new book for ages." Elsie says gratefully and as she leaves the dormitory she opens the book and begins to read as she walks down to the common room.

That Christmas is very quiet, the Weasleys are staying for Christmas because their parents are visiting their older brother Bill in Egypt.

"I feel sorry for Ron and Ginny though." Fred says as Elsie sits at a table with the twins, Charlie and Percy. Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Lee and most other students from each house have gone, and there are only two Slytherin's staying behind during the holidays.

"Why?" Elsie asks them,

"They have to go and stay with our great aunt Muriel." George explains and he and Fred snigger with each other,

"They'll be driving each other up the wall."

"No one likes Muriel."

"You'll be the death of her." Charlie says, trying to look stern but smiling.

"It really isnt a laughing matter!" Percy scolds disapprovingly as Elsie helps herself to seconds of Turkey and roast Potatoes. For Elsie, that Christmas was one of the best she's ever had. They pull magical crackers and the gifts inside are wondrous to behold. She swapped a pack of Filibuster's fireworks with George for a live Toad and she left the table with her arms filled with goodies. They went outside and had snowball fights and Fred and George bewitched a snowman to fly around after some terrified first years. Over the rest of the holidays they toasted marshmallows in the common room and Fred and George winded up Percy to no end, causing him to turn bright red and spit with rage,

"I will not have you messing about like a pair of Baboons!"

When term resumes and Elsie gets back to her lessons her friends bug her to help with their homework. Sometimes she would accept, although rather annoyed, other times she would refuse.

"How will you ever learn?" she barked under her breath at them one day as she sat alone in the library.

"Oh, go on! We'll never be mean to you again!" George pleads loudly,

"Shhhh!" she whispered urgently looking around for Madam Pince but she clearly hadn't heard them. "You shouldn't have left it this late! Besides, I've done most of your homework for days now. I refuse to do anymore until you buck up your ideas."

"Please… just do the introduction, you know you want to." Fred says and the pair look at her with innocent looks on their faces.

"Fine! Just the introductions!" she sighs and they breathe with relief, "Why haven't you don't them before? You're good at Charms." She says curiously,

"Quidditch practice. Charlie's been going round the bend, he's desperate not to loose this year." Fred explains and I sigh,

"We aren't doing very well are we? I don't want to loose to Slytherin again." Elsie says sadly,

"I don't think we have a choice." George says miserably, "We'll see you in the common room Elsie."

Even though Elsie and her friends were now speaking to each other as though their falling out never took place, she still got annoyed most times. Most people apart from Fred, George and Cedric forgot her name or used the nickname Smellsie. Sometimes, even Angelina and Alicia got her name wrong which hurt her as much as it annoyed her. It was clear she was overlooked by everyone, despite being top in every class. She had no real personality and the talk about Elsie punching Warrington had died down, and soon she was Invisible to the rest of her pupils. At least the teachers remembered her name. One night Elsie fell asleep with her head on the desk in the common room but a loud shout woke her up. She looked around but the common room was deserted and the fire was slowing dying out. She heard the shout again and she jumped. It sounded like a man's voice, shouting in rage and frustration. Elsie was frightened and yet worried. What if someone was hurt? So she snuck out of the passageway and hunted around for the source of the noise. She saw a cloaked figure sweeping down the corridor in a hurry and she watched confused for a while before something grabbed her from behind, placing a hand over her mouth.

"Shhhh!" a voice whispers urgently and she remained still, knowing who the voice belonged to. When the figure at the end of the corridor disappeared she turned round to face the twins.

"What are you doing?" George whispers incredulously,

"I heard a noise. I thought someone was hurt." She explains,

"Come on, before we get noticed." Fred says leading them back to the fat lady's portrait.

"How did you know where I was?" Elsie asks the pair as they enter the common room, and Fred holds up the Marauder's map.

"This has come in handy more times than I can mention. We've even found some secret passageways out of the castle." George says and Elsie looks at him worried,

"You haven't used any have you?" she asks and they shake their heads,

"Of course not!" they lie and she looks at them satisfied, not knowing the truth.

"Good." She replies, "Who do you reckon that was?" she asks worriedly,

"I'm not sure… they looked upset though." Fred says as they reach the common room,

"Goodnight." They all say to each other before going to their separate dormitories.

"I think we've rubbed off on her you know?" George asks his twin brother as they enter their dormitory.


	6. Potions and Poaching

Potions and Poaching

With the last Quidditch game of the season upon them, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, the tension is palpable as Elsie sits with her friends at the Gryffindor table. If Gryffindor wins this match then for the first time in two years they will not be bottom of the league.

"You're all going to do really well. I'm sure of it." Elsie reassures her friends who look rather pale and sickly looking, well except Fred and George who look determined and ready to beat the Hufflepuff's even if it costs an arm or a leg.

"Good luck chaps, I'm sure you'll do us proud." Percy says puffing out his chest and striding away.

"One day I'm going to punch Percy." Fred vows and they all laugh.

"Come on, we'd better get ready." Charlie who is the captain of the Quidditch team orders and Elsie's friends get to their feet leaving her sitting with Lee and Katie at the table. Fred and George turn to face her as they follow after their older brother and she smiles reassuringly back at them.

She heads to the stands and joins Hagrid,

"Hi Hagrid." She says up to him,

"Hullo Elsie. How are yer?"

"I'm fine thanks, you?" she asks politely,

"I've been be'er. The slugs have been at the cabbages again." He says grumpily and she looks at him concerned,

"You should buy some flesh eating slug repellent." She advises, "I've read about it whilst I was doing Herbology homework."

"Thanks, I'll head to Diagon alley soon." He says smiling down at her as the match starts. It is a dirty game to say the least, both teams hoping desperately not to be last in the league, but for the Gryffindor's after loosing two years in a row, everyone has their hopes on this match. She watches as Charlie flies around looking for the Snitch and Fred and George hit Bludgers at the other players. She admits to herself that Cedric is a good seeker as well but Nymphadora Tonks, a chaser for Hufflepuff is very agile. She knows Tonks by sight, with hair that changes from various bright colours each day and a troublesome personality. Angelina and Alicia are brilliant, scoring several times and the twins are handy with their bats, trying to knock their opponents off their brooms. Suddenly, a whistle is blown and Madam Hooch announces,

"Gryffindor win!" and the Gryffindor's all cheer loudly. Third place is better than fourth!

"Come on!" Katie cries, grabbing her friend Leanne's hand and following the other Gryffindor's down to the pitch. Elsie follows after them with Hagrid and she runs along the grass and hugs Alicia and Angelina before turning to the twins and standing beaming at them.

"Well done." Is all she says, but she is shunted aside as the other Gryffindor's descend on them, laughing and cheering for them.

That night in the Gryffindor common room there is a small party to congratulate the Quidditch team on not coming last again and fireworks are set off and Fred and George enter with their arms filled with goodies.

"Where did you get them from?" Angelina asks in awe,

"The kitchens." Replies Fred smiling at her proudly,

"But no one can get into there! It's hidden!" Lee Jordan shouts,

"Not on the marauders map." George whispers to Elsie who sighs exasperatedly. Elsie however finds the celebrations boring after a while, and like Percy, she soon heads to her dormitory to escape from the noise. The next day Professor McGonagall seems to be in a much friendlier mood, and she doesn't tell Fred and George off that much when they started handing out Acid Pops to the Slytherin's. She seems to be pleased that her house didn't finish last again, and she praises the twin's transfiguration work for what seems to be the first time ever. They look at her as though she is mad. In Potions, Elsie drops into the seat beside Cedric and he smiles at her kindly.

"I'm sorry we beat you yesterday." She says truthfully and he laughs at her,

"Thanks. I thought you would gloat." He says and she shakes her head,

"It was a close game. Look, you're not meant to add those Porcupine quills yet!" she adds urgently restraining him from adding them.

"Miss MacDonald, if you do not concentrate on your own work then I shall have to move you, I'm sure Mr Diggory can cope perfectly well on his own." Snape says icily and she nods stiffly,

"Yes sir." However without Elsie's instructions Cedric's potion soon turns to rubber inside his cauldron.

"Elsie… help me!" he hisses so Snape cannot hear him.

"Add the tubers now." She whispers quickly back to him but Snape catches her and slams his fist down on her desk, making her jump and the Slytherin's laugh.

"Miss MacDonald, move to the back of the classroom for disrupting other people's work and hold your tongue!" he says and she carries her stuff to the empty table at the back. Cedric looks at her apologetically as she scurries to the back of the room and continues with her potion, and when Snape passes her his lip curls but he doesn't criticise it at all.

"I'm sorry you got into trouble Elsie!" Cedric says desperately catching up with her,

"I know, it's alright Cedric, really." She says smiling at him kindly and he sighs in relief,

"That's good. Maybe he'll forget by next lesson." He says thoughtfully,

"Professor Snape never forgets." She replies wisely and they head to the great hall for dinner when he is swarmed upon by his Hufflepuff friends,

"See you later." He calls to Elsie and she smiles weakly at him before walking into Tonks.

"Sorry." They both say quickly and hurrying out of each others way and Elsie takes the empty seat beside Percy.

"Oi, where did you go with Diggory?" Fred demands sitting down with his twin opposite her.

"Fred, be courteous and keep your voice down!" Percy clips at him,

"What's got your wand in a knot?" she asks the pair as they glower at her,

"We were going to sneak into Snape's private storeroom remember, so we could get some ingredients for our joke shop ideas." George says irritated. Out of all their friends, the twins had confided in Elsie their ambition of running their own joke shop when they left Hogwarts, and much to their amazement she was incredibly enthusiastic about it.

"That's a wonderful idea! You both are great at inventing things! Oh, I shall go to the library and look up unusual charms and spells which may be useful!" she had said, bundling her stuff up and hurrying away excitedly.

"I told you I wouldn't help you steal anything!" she snaps annoyed,

"But you promised you would create a diversion! We had to scarper because we saw him coming on the map!"

"We didn't get a single thing!" Fred says indignantly,

"Fine, next lesson I'll help you." She snaps ladling some gravy onto her plate with venom.

"Are you alright?" George asks quietly,

"Well it's not like I had a good Potions lesson either." She says sadly,

"Sorry. We didn't mean it." Fred says and she sighs,

"I'll create a diversion, but if you get caught I had nothing to do with it." She warns and they nod,

"Obviously." Fred says proudly and Elsie realises that her two friends would never drop them into trouble.

Next potions lesson, from her position at the back of the class, Elsie takes out her wand from inside her cloak and casts a spell at Barnaby Jones' cauldron, causing it to spill its Bulgeye potion all over the classroom. Soon the Slytherin's eyes are bulging and they stumble blindly around the room,

"If I find out who did this they will find themselves expelled before they can blink." Snape shouts aloud to the class, turning to face the twins just as they manage to get back to their seats. He surveys them for a while before eventually turning their backs on them and curing the Slytherin's.

"Well done Elsie!" Fred says ruffling her hair,

"Yeah, it was worth that to see the look on Warrington's face!" George agrees grinning.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves. Did you get what you needed?" she asks them,

"Yes, we'd better go and get creating!" they say hurrying away quickly and she rolls her eyes at them before going to dinner with Angelina and Alicia.

At the end of the year, the end of term feast is magnificent as always and Elsie and her friends stuff themselves until they feel like they are about to burst.

"I don't want to go home." Elsie says thoughtfully, examining Angelina's copy of the daily prophet.

"Why not?" she asks her bewildered,

"I have much more fun here than at home. I have never told anyone this but it is rather lonely being on your own for months." She admits glumly,

"Do you think your father will tell you what happened to you mother?" Fred asks her and she sighs,

"I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it's best if I don't know."

"Maybe it's best if you do." George points out and she smiles weakly at them as Dumbledore gets to his feet.

"Settle down, settle down. This year has been another delightful year, and I am sure you have made as many memories as house points." He says warmly to the crowd and Elsie and the twins share knowing grins, thinking of all the adventures they have gotten up to the past school year.

"However, the house points stand as followed. Hufflepuff in fourth place, with 234 points." There is a small clatter of applause for the Hufflepuff's and Elsie turns in her seat to shoot an apologetic glance at Cedric and Patricia who smile weakly back at her. "Third is Ravenclaw, with 313 points." Dumbledore says and Elsie catches Roger Davies thumping the table with his fist and Alistair Poole sobbing into his hands.

"Second is Gryffindor, with 375 points." Dumbledore says and Elsie and her friends moan in annoyance as the twins catch the Slytherin's grinning smugly at the Gryffindor's. "And first is Slytherin house, with 422 points." He says and the Slytherin's whoop and cheer as Elsie sighs loudly,

"Well there is always next year." She says consolingly to her friends and they shoot her sceptical looks, "Well maybe our luck will change by next year." She says positively.


	7. Year 3

Year 3

"Father, please!" Elsie begged her dad as she pushed her trolley through the barrier, with him by her side.

"This is not the time Elsie. Maybe when you're older." He replies sternly,

"But I am older! She was my mother; I have the right to know!" Elsie replies angrily,

"Not now! I shall decide when you can know, not you, not anyone, understand!" he bellows and she looks at him stricken.

"Fine. I'll see you at Christmas." She replies coolly taking her trunk and the cage her elegant Tawny owl sits asleep inside and heads towards the Scarlet train. She knows by now that her friends won't have arrived just yet so she finds an empty compartment and sits down.

"Elsie!" a familiar voice cries and the compartment door opens and she looks up from her book,

"Angelina! Alicia! Katie! How are you all?" she asks pleasantly, shutting her book.

"We're fine thank you." Alicia says,

"You haven't seen Fred and George have you?" Angelina asks looking out of the train window,

"No, sorry." She replies curiously. Why is Angelina so interested in Fred and George all of a sudden?

A few minutes later and Fred, George and Lee entered, sitting down.

"What's in the box, Lee?" Katie asks him quickly and he opens the lid of a cardboard box and something hairy tries to climb out but he shuts it again quickly as the girls squeal in disgust.

"Guess who we saw?"

"On the platform?"

"Scar and everything!" the twins say and Elsie turns to face them, the only person that heard them.

"Who?" she asks curiously,

"Harry Potter!" they exclaim together and Elsie gasps in awe.

"No? Really? Merlin's pants! He's coming to our school?" she asks quickly,

"Looks like it." Fred says and the others focus their attention on the three of them.

"Who is starting school?" Katie asks,

"Harry Potter, we helped get his trunk onto the train." George says and they all discuss animatedly about Harry Potter.

"We introduced ourselves as well, he seems pretty nice." Fred says,

"I wonder how he did it. Stop you know who." Elsie wonders aloud,

"That's just it though. Nobody knows." Angelina says seriously and they sit in silence for a short time before George interrupts,

"Although I bet Prefect Percy would say he knows." And the others laugh,

"He's been made a prefect then?" Lee asks and the twins nod,

"He was awful over the summer; he wouldn't stop going on about it." Fred says and they laugh again.

"Maybe we should hide this in his bed." Lee says mischievously and he and the twins begin to plot on what sort of mayhem they can wreak during their third year.

They take a carriage together up to the school and as Hogwarts looms into view Elsie looks up at it fondly, realising just how much she's missed it. When they reach the front door Fred, George and Lee jump out and hurry away together to find their other friends but Elsie and the girls head into the great hall and sit at Gryffindor table and chat, waiting for the sorting to commence. Percy slides into the seat beside Elsie and says proudly,

"How do you do Elsie? I'm sure my brother's have neglected to tell you that I have been made prefect?" he asks shaking her hand vigorously,

"No, they did tell me. Congratulations." She replies amused by his manner, as they and Lee sit opposite them both.

"Look, there he is!" Fred says pointing out a dark haired boy with glasses as he follows McGonagall to the front of the great hall,

"And there's Ron!" George adds pointing to a tall red haired boy standing beside Harry.

"It looks like they've made friends." Percy says proudly,

"Well that will be one to tell mum and dad." Fred tells his brothers. They watch as a Lavender Brown, Seamus Finnigan, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and a Parvati Patil get sorted into Gryffindor, but then Harry sits on the stool and the hat is placed on his head, and after a short while of deliberation, the hat shouts,

"Gryffindor!" and the whole table erupts with noise. Fred and George chant,

"We got Potter! We got Potter!" and everyone goes to pat him on the back and shake his hand and welcome him to Gryffindor.

After we settle down and Ron Weasley and Dean Thomas are sorted into Gryffindor house as well Dumbledore gets to his feet and makes his usual speech and makes a sly comment about how old students should follow the rules as well, looking at Fred and George with a twinkle in his eye, food appears on the table and everyone helps themselves. Elsie and Percy get talking to the young first year girl, Hermione, and Elsie is strongly reminded of herself.

"What would you say are the most interesting lessons?" she asks, as Elsie wonders whether she will be made fun of because of her bushy hair and large front teeth.

"I would say charms and transfiguration are most fascinating, but they are the most difficult. I'm sure that won't be a problem for you though." Elsie says to her kindly, and the little girl's face turns red,

"Thank you…" she pauses,

"I'm Elsie." She replies and they shake hands over the table.

"Of course I have practised a few simple spells already, and I have read up on a lot but I cannot wait to get started." Hermione replies and they continue to chat animatedly about lessons and life at Hogwarts. After the feast Elsie follows her friends up to the common room, allowing Percy to shepherd the first years along behind them and because she is so tired Elsie goes straight to her familiar bed and after changing she climbs beneath the warm covers and falls asleep quickly.

The news that Harry Potter is at school spreads like wildfire, and Elsie feels rather sorry for him. He just looks like an ordinary little boy, but people were constantly whispering about him behind his back, pointing him out as he walked down the corridor. Fred and George were proud that their little brother had become friends with him though, and they got to know him quite well, and would tell the group all about him.

"Don't you feel mean though? Surely we should all just leave him alone, I bet he's really nervous." Elsie says over breakfast the next day.

"It's not just us. Everyone's at it." Fred replies,

"And that makes it ok does it?" she answered wearily abandoning the conversation as Hermione sat down at the table.

"Hello! Are you excited for your lessons today?" she asked her and they began to converse, Elsie realising just how much Hermione was like her and how amusing it was.

"Come on Els, we've got defence against the dark arts with that new Quirrell." George says,

"See you later Hermione!" she says to her new friend, following after the twins and the others. Quirrell was a strange man it transpired, wearing a thick turban which caused the Slytherin's to ask what was beneath it, whispering rude answers to each other when his back was turned. He was a very nervous man and Fred and George found this very amusing, and the look in their eyes showed that they were planning on making the most out of this. As they left the classroom though Elsie couldn't help feeling odd about their new teacher, and she thought deeply why she could possibly be scared by such a timid man.

"What's wrong Els?" Fred asks her concerned,

"I don't know. I don't think I like him." she replies dreamily,

"Do you think he's hiding a giant spider under his turban do you?" George teases,

"No, I don't know what it is alright?" she replies calmly.

The year got under way and it soon turned out that Harry Potter was just an ordinary boy just like everyone else. Ron Weasley was like Fred and George although rather glum most of the time. Elsie and Hermione became fast friends as they had so much in common, though Hermione was perhaps even brighter than her, the rest of the first years kept themselves to themselves and loved when Fred and George created mayhem although Hermione didn't.

"Just ignore them, they like making people laugh." Elsie explains as she and Hermione try and finish their homework. Harry is chosen by Oliver Wood to be the new seeker, and Fred and George exclaim their amazement at his flying during one charms lesson.

"He's amazing. We definitely have the cup in the bag." George says as they practice the cheering charm. One morning, Neville Longbottom came hopping up the aisle between the tables, clearly having been jinxed by a leg locker curse. He speaks to Hermione, Ron and Harry and Elsie watches as they get up, leaving him alone and he falls to the floor. Fred, George, Lee and Angelina laugh.

"Don't laugh! That's really mean, I wonder who cursed him." Elsie says sympathetically,

"It was pretty amusing. Is that Malfoy's son?" George asks Fred watching as a pale haired first year strides into the room,

"It is!" Fred replies and they watch him take his place at the Slytherin table.

"Who?" Elsie asks curiously,

"Lucius Malfoy's son. Dad says after you know who fell; Lucius was one of the first to renounce his old ways. Dad says its complete rubbish though." Fred explains,

"Well if he's cursing people just for the sake of it it's clear he's come from a bad family." Elsie says thoughtfully, "I'll see you later, I have ancient runes next." She says brightly getting up from the table.

Hermione and Elsie soon confided a lot of their worries to each other. Even though Hermione was brilliant with spells she was still terrified she would fail her end of year exams, so Elsie comforted her,

"You're an amazing witch! Of course you're going to pass them!" and when Hermione told Elsie she had no friends she replied with, "You have me don't you?" and it was true, despite the several years of difference between the two, they soon were inseparable, sitting with each other at meals and doing their homework in the library together, and when Hermione told Elsie that Draco Malfoy and some other Slytherin's were being mean to her, Elsie admitted,

"The Slytherin's in my year are still mean to me after all this time. Just ignore them, they're just jealous of how clever you are." She says consolingly and Hermione returns a weak smile. One day as Elsie sits alone in the common room finishing translating some ancient runes for homework, Hermione hurries into the room and drops her bag in the arm chair nearest the fire,

"Hermione what's wrong?" Elsie asks her,

"Ron said I didn't have any friends!" she says wiping the tears from her eyes,

"Well that's absurd! You're my friend!"

"Yes, but I have no friends in my year! Everyone else has got friends, except me." She says morosely and Elsie patted her on the shoulder,

"Well then make friends. Show them they're wrong. Even if you may not have some things in common once you get to know someone you may be surprised. Look at me and Fred and George. We're best friends and they're the biggest trouble makers in the school!" she says and Hermione smiles sadly,

"Come on, I'm going down for dinner. I'll see you in the great hall?" she asks and Hermione nods.

It transpires however that Hermione doesn't come down for the Halloween feast, where there are live bats flying around the ceiling and the ghosts put on a right show for entertainment. Elsie began to worry,

"Do you think I should go and find her?" she whispers to Angelina,

"She probably wants some time alone." She whispers back distracted by the re-enactment of the beheading of Sir Nicholas.

"Come on Els, have a toffee Apple!" Fred says handing her one and she smiles and takes it graciously. Suddenly the hall doors open and Quirrell comes running into the room screaming. Despite it being months since the start of term Elsie hasn't budged in her thoughts about Quirrell. There was something about him that made her on edge all of the time, and from past experiences, her first impressions were usually right.

"Troll! In the dungeon! Troll in the dungeon!" he shouts standing still as the whole room becomes silent and Dumbledore gets to his feet. "Thought you ought to know." Professor Quirrell says before collapsing to the ground. There's a beat before the screaming begins, and the panicked students try and hurry away,

"SILENCE!" Professor Dumbledore bellows and everyone stops still, "Everyone will please, not panic! Now, prefects will lead their houses back to the dormitories, teachers will follow me to the dungeons." He says as Percy takes full control.

"First years!" he begins but as Elsie hurriedly slides off the bench Fred and George grab the sleeves of her cloak and pull her along protectively between them, only releasing her when they reach the common room.

"How did a troll get inside the castle?" Elsie asks them worried, Trolls were not a creature she was familiar on, and she had not learned about them in care of magical creatures yet.

"I don't know, dad says Trolls are really stupid. They wouldn't have been able to get in themselves." George says as they sit in front of the fire,

"You're saying someone helped it get in?" Elsie asks horrified,

"I don't know, but I wouldn't rule it out." Fred replies.

Several hours later Hermione rushes into the common room looking stunned and slightly ruffed up.

"Hermione where have you been?" Elsie asks her worried,

"I was in the bathroom, and the Troll came in." she whispers to her so no one else hears, "Ron and Harry came to save me." She says and Elsie smiles at her,

"Well I'm glad you're safe. And it also appears that you do have more friends than you realise." She says wisely and Hermione beams at her.


	8. Going Unnoticed

Going Unnoticed 

Soon Elsie was so close with Hermione that they were frequently mistaken for sisters, which Elsie secretly was pleased about, although she didn't tell anyone. She had always wanted a little sister, but obviously her mother had died before she had any siblings. The third year was much more challenging than before, and Elsie relished the new pressure and her most of her teachers, apart from Professor Snape of course, were impressed with how well she kept up and progressed with her work. However know that Hermione was close friends with Harry and Ron she didn't speak to her as often, but she was glad her little friend had friends her own age. Elsie now sat alone in most of her classes, Cedric was more popular than ever before and she didn't want to spoil his new fun, and he made no effort to speak to her that much until a few months later when he sat with her again in potions.

"Did you hear about the Troll at Halloween?" he asks and she nods,

"It was brave of them to take it on, they were lucky they weren't hurt." She replies,

"How were your holidays?" Cedric asks her,

"Oh it was dull as usual, yours?" she replies and Cedric tells her all about his trips to Egypt with his parents.

"Wow, the wizarding Egyptians sound fascinating! I read about them years ago…" she says and they spend the potions lesson discussing the Pyramids and eventually get onto the subject of care of magical creatures.

"I think it's a really good subject." He tells her and she nods as they continue with their conversation, as Snape inspects their cauldrons, and passes over Elsie's without an insult.

"You and pretty boy Diggory are getting close aren't you?" Fred asks her as they return to the common room to dump their many books. Because they were all taking extra classes they had more to carry around, and had gotten into the habit of returning to the common room before dinner every night.

"So, he's my friend." She replies calmly,

"Ohhhh, but does he just want to be your friend?" George asks and Elsie rolls her eyes,

"Of course he does! Don't be so ridiculous!" she says marching down the moving staircase ahead of them.

"Sorry Els, you know we're only teasing you…"

"It's something we can do without being put in detention." The twins say and she looks at them exasperated,

"Thanks, that makes me feel loads better." She replies and they laugh as they enter the great hall.

"So, tell us. Does Quirrell still scare you?" George asks as they sit down beside Angelina and Alicia,

"He just… I don't know. It's hard to explain. It's just a nervous feeling." She replies and they glance at each other confused.

"Fred, George, Wood says Quidditch practice is this Friday." Angelina tells them,

"Oh, good. We need to get flying soon." Fred replies excitedly.

Elsie heads up to the common room by herself later on, as Fred, George, Lee and the girls remain behind to finish dinner. Elsie starts on her homework for care of magical creatures and potions and when she finishes she bumps into Hermione with Harry and Ron.

"Hello." She says kindly to them,

"Oh, Harry, Ron this is Elsie. Elsie's in Fred and George's year." She explains as Harry looked at her slightly stunned by her appearance. Her hair and face were plain, and she looked quite like Hermione, except that her teeth were not as large and her hair not as bushy and she was a slightly larger build. Her clothes however were patched and frayed and such bright colours that it would be impossible for them to ever match together. Even her bright purple boots were strange.

"Hello." Harry and Ron says nervously,

"We're going to the library." Hermione says,

"Oh, good for you kids. But don't get on the wrong side of Madam Pince or she'll not let you back in." Elsie warns and Hermione smiles at her one last time before they turn and leave.

Over the next few weeks, Elsie keeps her head down as usual and gets on with her work and homework, and occasionally helps with Fred and George's work. On a bright day the first Quidditch match of the season is held, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, and Elsie is so nervous about the game that when she reaches the stands by herself, she feels her knees wobbling slightly. The game is filthy, and the Slytherin's knock Wood off his broom which angers Elsie to no end. Lee Jordan is commentating, and his flow of banter makes Elsie laugh at some points, especially when he says Angelina is attractive. Elsie silently acknowledges the fact that they might even make a good couple.

"That's a foul! Send him off!" she shouts to no one in particular and Ron, who stands beside her edges away from her nervously. Angelina gets knocked off her broom as well and she covers her mouth with her hands in fright. She watches as Harry almost falls off his broom which tries to buck him off but suddenly it stops and he gets back on, makes a spectacular dive and falls off his broom.

"Looks like he's gonna be sick!" Hagrid cries from beside her when suddenly, Harry spits the small golden snitch out into his hands.

"Gryffindor win!" Madam Hooch announces and the Gryffindor's go mad. They've not won against Slytherin in years! Elsie follows to the crowd down the stands and back up to the castle. She pushes through the crowds until she reaches the common room and when Fred and George appear she runs towards them and wraps her arms around them. Realising what she's done she pulls back, feeling her face burn as they look at her stunned,

"Well done." She says quickly before turning around and scurrying away mortified.

The next day, the twins or Elsie don't bring up the awkward moment between them. They had appeared to have reached a silent conclusion to not bring it up, and things carried on as normal until Christmas arrived with a fresh fall of snow. The twins bewitched snowballs to hit against Professor Quirrell's turban, and although deep down she found it quite amusing, it also made her rather worried.

"Don't, we'll get into such trouble." She warns them and they grin at her,

"We're just having some fun, he doesn't even know it's us." George replies as they watch him run down the corridor with his arms over his head. A few weeks later as the Christmas holidays loomed, something rather peculiar happened.

"Hey, Elsie, are you staying here for Christmas?" Fred asks her and she shakes her head,

"I don't think so, why?"

"Oh. Never mind." He says looking embarrassed but also quite sad as he walks away. Before she leaves though she packs her bags and heads to the library to return some borrowed books, but while she sits alone at a table, Cedric takes the seat beside her.

"Hi." He says glumly and she looks up confused,

"What's wrong?" she asks concerned,

"I'm just… confused. I don't know whether my friends are my friends anymore." He says and she looks at him puzzled,

"That doesn't really make any sense Cedric." She replies patiently,

"It's just, ever since I got on the Quidditch team, and have gotten better in school everyone suddenly wants to be my friend. But none of them wanted to before… well no one apart from you." He says smiling sheepishly at her,

"Maybe, they can only see someone for who they are if they are popular." Elsie replies wisely and he smiles at her warmly,

"You're a good friend Els." He says getting up from the table and walking away. What they didn't know was that George Weasley was watching them from behind a bookshelf nearby, looking annoyed and sad.

Later that evening Fred and George sit in the corner of the room, deep in discussion with Lee about what they want to invent for their joke shop, talk emerges of sweets that can help you skip classes but Elsie enters the common room.

"I'll see you when I get back!" she says waving goodbye to her friends and the twins wave half heartedly, George had no trouble telling his brother all her heard, and both agreed that Cedric Diggory was just using her to help with potions. She heads up to her dormitory and packs the remainder of her things, and the next morning she wakes up early and hurries to the carriages which take her to Hogsmeade station.

When Elsie returns to Hogwarts at the end of the Christmas holidays, the twins have decided to confront her about Diggory. Both of them were extremely protective and didn't want to see her get hurt, so when she had unpacked and stepped into the common room, the twins step in front of her.

"Hello, did you have a good Christmas? Did you enjoy your presents?" she asks them brightly,

"Yes thank you, can we speak with you?" George asks and Elsie looks from each of their faces. They look so serious, it scares her. 'Has someone died?' she thinks to herself.

"It's about Diggory."

"Merlin's beard you're not still on about him are you?" she asks,

"We want you to be careful." Fred says cautiously,

"We just think that he's not someone you should hang around with." George adds and she looks at them astonished,

"But you think I should hang around with the two biggest rule breakers in the school?" she asks them disbelievingly,

"Well, he's probably only using you to help with his potions." George says and her eyes widen with hurt,

"How could you say that? You use me to do your homework as well! Do you think that just because Cedric is in with the cool crowd now that means he doesn't want to be my friend? Or that you don't believe anyone popular would want me as a friend?" she shrieks at them as they look stunned,

"No, we didn't mean…" Fred begins,

"Don't you know how I feel? No one here even likes me! People forget my name or forget I'm in the room! It's like I'm invisible half the time and the only person apart from you two and Hermione that I can actually call my friend is Cedric! So don't you tell me that he's using me just for help in class! At least he acknowledges me existence!" she cries, turning around and hurrying back up to the girl's dormitory.

Fred and George try and follow her up but the staircase magically transforms into a slide and they come tumbling down.

"What were you doing coming up here?" Hermione asks the twins indignantly, "And why was Elsie so upset?" she adds and they glance at each other feeling terrible. Elsie sits on her bed with a book in hand and she doesn't look up as the door opens and Angelina and Alicia enter the dormitory.

"I wonder what got her so wound up."

"I have to say, Elise can get wound up quite a bit." Alicia agrees and Elsie shuts her book with a thud and they jump as they only just notice her presence.

"Thank you! Thank you for just proving a point! No one does notice me or remember my name! Not even you two! It's Elsie, not Elise!" she says storming out of the dormitory and out of the common room. Hermione comes hurrying after her, calling her name until she stops and turns to face her sadly,

"Elsie what is it?" she asks her,

"My friends don't even know my name. They don't even realise I'm there half the time and… don't think I'm worth anyone else's time." She says sadly and the little girl looks up at her sadly,

"Maybe they're your wrong friends." Hermione replies and Elsie blinks,

"No, they're good people. I'm probably just over…" she begins but the fat lady's portrait swings open and Alicia and Angelina come tumbling out,

"Elsie we're so sorry. You are our friend, you're just so quiet sometimes we forget you're there! We promise to include you from now on!" Angelina says desperately,

"Yeah, and get your name right." Alicia adds,

"Thanks." Elsie replies and Hermione leaves them to it.

However, Elsie doesn't forget what the twins said about Cedric, and it takes her much longer to forgive the twins, but a few weeks later she has no choice but to forgive them. She's walking down the corridor by herself to her next defence against the dark arts class, worried about having a double period with Professor Quirrell when Warrington, Pucey and Jones step in front of her, blocking her path.

"Excuse me." She says politely but they knock the books from her hands and she scrambles to pick them up,

"Yeah, stay on the floor like you belong, you filthy pathetic mudblood!" Elsie had heard this insult before, many times, but it had never been said to her. She got up to her feet with tears in her eyes as Fred, George, Lee, Angelina and Alicia hurry towards the confrontation.

"What's going on?" Lee asks looking from Elsie to the Slytherin's, as Fred and George take their places either side of her. Elsie shakes her heads, trying not to let the tears fall from her eyes and Warrington smirks around at his friends,

"We were just telling this mudblood to stay on the floor where she belongs." He repeats loudly and the reaction is instantaneous.

"How…egh!" Alicia shrieks disgusted.

"Take that back right now!" Angelina shouts as Fred and George lunge forwards and try and attack the gang of Slytherin's.

"Fred, George don't!" Elsie shouts as her and Lee try and restrain them, "It's not worth it, come on." She adds dragging her friends away as the Slytherin's laugh coldly.

"You wait, one day we will get them back."

"If it's the last thing we do!" the twins vow and Elsie sniffs quietly as they take their seats.

"Don't listen to them Els!" George says nudging her in the ribs gently,

"You're a much better witch than they will ever be." Fred says with conviction and she smiles weakly at her two best friends.


	9. Payback and Toilet Seats

Payback and Toilet Seats

For the remainder of the year, Fred and George spent their time playing Quidditch and inventing tricks and merchandise for their joke shop. The Gryffindor Quidditch team was doing so well due to their brilliant new seeker and Elsie was determined that they would beat Slytherin, so in the run up to the last match, whenever the twins had extra Quidditch practice and couldn't do their homework, she volunteered to do it for them.

"You make them pay for what they said! I can't wait to see the look on their faces!" she says in the common room one evening when they return soaking wet and muddy.

"Thanks Els, you're the best!" Fred says grinning at her as they head to their dormitory to change into dry clothes.

The next day at breakfast Elsie sat by herself as she helped herself to scrambled egg on toast. The twins and Lee Jordan ran into the hall and sat down at the table, all of them laughing hysterically.

"What's happened?" Angelina asks interested,

"You'll see." Fred says craning his neck so he could get a better look at the entrance. Warrington, Jones and Pucey of Slytherin all stumble into the great hall, clutching their faces as they hurry up to the teachers table. Pucey trips and they then get a look at his face and the whole hall bursts into laughter. The three Slytherin's faces are covered with toadstools of various colours and sizes.

"How did you do it?" Elsie asks the twins astonished,

"We brew it in the boys' bathroom and slipped it in with their drinks." Fred says proudly,

"They're so thick, they didn't even notice." George adds as Lee clutches his side in laughter. The Slytherin's hurry to Professor Snape, who whisks them away out of the hall and a while later they turn up again in History of Magic, their faces back to normal.

"Oh well. It was fun while it lasted." Fred says grinning at Elsie who returns it,

"I know it was against the rules but… thanks for sticking up for me." She says quietly,

"What are friends for?" George replies and they practice their freezing charms.

One day during care of magical creates with Professor Kettleburn, the students sit outside in the grounds making the most of the respite to the rain that had been battling down for days. They were meant to be sketching pictures of Bowtruckles, but Elsie had never been good at drawing, so although she knew a lot about the small twig like creatures, her drawing was not satisfactory. At the end of the lesson, Fred and George were teasing her about her drawing and she bundled it up and hid it in her bag,

"Stop! I know it's awful!" she says annoyed,

"Let's see your drawing Elsie." Angelina says skipping over to them,

"No, it's horrible. You'll only laugh." She replies embarrassed but at that moment Maria Hawking overhears and shrieks,

"What's horrible, your hair?" she asks laughing shrilly with her friends, and Fred and George turn to glare at her, reaching for their wands.

"Don't, come on." Elsie says grabbing their sleeves and pulling them after her,

"I could always fix it for you though!" Hawking shouts after them and Elsie turns to face her angrily.

"How? I'm sure you could dazzle us with your previously unseen magical abilities." She says and Pucey who overhears brings out his wand and shouts,

"Calvario!" the spell hits her and the Slytherin's guffaw with glee, falling onto the floor because they are laughing so hard.

"Elsie!" her friends cry and she reaches up and touches her head, realising that all her hair has fallen out. Sobbing, Elsie runs up to the castle alone, pulling the hood of her cloak over her so no one notices as she hurries to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing.

After taking a small amount of Manegro potion which causes Elsie's hair to return to it's usual length she heads down to the great hall for dinner.

"Are you wearing a wig Smellsie?" the Slytherin's shout at her as she takes the empty seat beside Alicia,

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, my hair's back to normal anyway." She says smiling forcefully,

"Us and Lee have been thinking about slipping them some essence of insanity, or…" Fred whispers to Elsie but she interrupts him,

"No, this has to stop. Whenever we get our own back on the Slytherin's they get us back too."

"They deserve it though!" George says feeling incredulous that Elsie doesn't want to get revenge.

"I know they do! They're all complete toads but who knows what else they might try next." She says patiently,

"She's right you know, maybe you should just leave it." Alicia says,

"Thanks Alicia." Elsie says smiling at her.

Elsie however realises the absence of Professor Dumbledore during dinner. Elsie scans the long table of teachers worried.

"Where do you think he's gone?" she asks her friends,

"How would we know? You're the clever one." George says through a mouthful of mashed potato.

"Yes but you're nosier than me." She states humorously,

"Hardly, you can be a right nosy…" Fred begins,

"Anyway," she says cutting through his insult, "If he's gone then there must be something wrong." She says conclusively,

"What makes you say that?" George asks her,

"Because only something urgent would get Professor Dumbledore to leave here on such short notice. I mean he was here at breakfast." She says remembering and they exchange looks and shrug their shoulders, not really concerned.

On the way up to the common room after the feast Elsie overhears an argument happening between Fred, George, Warrington, Pucey and Jones.

"Fine, midnight in the empty Charms classroom." George says as they glare at the backs of the retreating Slytherin's. Elsie was standing on the marble staircase, and as the twins headed upstairs she jumped out behind them.

"Merlin's beard, don't do that!" Fred says as he and George jump,

"What's happening at midnight?" she asks them quickly,

"Nothing." George replies hastily, and the twins exchange weary glances,

"I know something is happening, and I know where it is taking place. You aren't going to meet them at midnight are you? You'll make Gryffindor loose more points!"

"I don't think it really matters anymore to be honest, not after Harry, Ron and Hermione making us loose 150 points." Fred replies moodily. Elsie had been stunned to hear that Hermione had been wandering around the castle at night, and even more appalled when she found the Gryffindor hourglass in the entrance hall almost empty of the rubies that represented how many points the house had.

"Well then, we don't need to loose anymore!" Elsie says quickly,

"Leave it Elsie, unless you're going to tell on us again?" George asks pointedly and she bites her lip, torn between her decisions and as they enter the common room she hurries up to the girl's dormitory.

That night she sat outside the girl's dormitory door, waiting for the twins to emerge. She was determined to stop them, whatever it took. She had fallen asleep long before they appeared, but they woke her up by exclaiming,

"Oh no!" she opened her eyes with a start and scrambled to her feet,

"You can't go! I won't let you!" she says forcefully,

"We'd like to see you try." George replies coolly as they walk down the stairs to the common room. Elsie gasps in fright and clutches onto the twins as they notice the first year who was always getting himself into bother due to his clumsiness, Neville Longbottom, lying frozen on the floor.

"That's not good." Fred whispers stunned,

"What happened to him?" Elsie whispers drawing her wand out,

"It looks like he's had the full body bind curse put on him."

"Finite!" Elsie says pointing her wand at Neville who springs free and gets to his feet shakily.

"Where did they go?" he asks looking around, his eyes wide.

"Who?" Fred and George say together,

"Harry, Ron and Hermione! They were going out but I tried to stop them, then Hermione…"

"We're going to go and find them Neville. You go back to bed." Fred says slyly and Elsie looks at him curiously as they exit the common room after Neville goes back to bed.

"You're not going to find them are you?" she asks as soon as they leave,

"They could be anywhere!" Fred exclaims under his breath,

"What about the Marauder's map?" she asks,

"It's up in our dormitory, come on." George says pulling her along beside him. They walk silently down the moving staircase, before taking a secret passageway and emerging in an empty corridor, or so it seems, until they hear footsteps running towards them.

"That sounds like a teacher!" George hisses,

"Come on!" Elsie says running down the corridor. Even though the Weasley twins didn't mind getting into trouble, she did, and she was not going to get caught walking about the castle at night.

"The doors locked!" Fred says rattling the one they run into first,

"Get out of the way! Alohamora!" Elsie whispers urgently and they bundle inside. Fred and George crouch low and peer out through the keyhole.

"Who is it?" Elsie asks quietly,

"It's… Dumbledore." George gasps,

"Dumbledore?!" Elsie exclaims in disbelief.

"What's he doing back? And walking round the castle at this hour?" Fred says thoughtfully,

"Well perhaps he's going off to duel with some Slytherin's." Elsie says looking at the pair coldly,

"Leave off. Come on, we'll come back with you." Fred says exasperatedly,

"Good."

"Although the Slytherin's will be more annoying than usual." George says scuffing his feet with vengeance.

"Well I bet if you go and check the Marauder's map, they will still be in their common room asleep. They were probably setting you up to get you expelled."

"That does sound like something they would do." Fred admits,

"Apparently that little wart Malfoy did the same to your brother." Elsie tells them both,

"How do you know that?" they ask her bewildered.

"Well, you see, the thing about people not noticing you, is that it makes it easy to listen in to people's conversations." She says proudly marching of to her dormitory, the twins looking after her in awe.

The next morning rumours are spread across the whole school. Apparently Harry, Ron and Hermione had went to save a Philosopher's stone from the third floor corridor, and had saved it before Quirrell, who had Voldermort living inside his body with him, could steal it and resurrect Voldermort.

"I knew it! I told you! I told you and you didn't believe me!" Elsie says hitting Fred and George over the heads with her book.

"Watch it!" they say,

"I told you there was something strange about him! I told you and you thought I was being crazy!"

"You are crazy." Fred mumbles massaging his head.

"Are they alright?" she asks the twins,

"Who? Oh Ron and Hermione are out of the hospital wing now, I think they're waiting for Harry to come round though." Fred says, pouring himself some Pumpkin juice.

"We tried to send him a toilet seat, but Madam Pomfrey confiscated it." George adds and they all laugh,

"Why a toilet seat?" Angelina asks,

"Mum gave us the idea." Fred replies,

"I doubt she gave it to you on purpose." Elsie replies grinning.

At the end of term, the leaflets were handed out as usual reminding the students to not use magic over the holidays,

"I always hope they'll forget to give us these." Fred says glumly accepting his from Professor McGonagall as Elsie rolls her eyes dissatisfied. The feast however, is as excellent as always and when Elsie sees Hermione, Ron and Harry she waves to them all but Hermione is the only one that notices and waves back.

"I'm so glad you're alright! You really are a Gryffindor; you're braver than all the Slytherin's put together." Elsie whispers to her over the table and she grins,

"Thanks." She says gratefully, before turning and chatting to Harry and Ron. Dumbledore gets to his feet and the chatter dies down,

"Another year gone! And as I understand it the house cup here needs awarding and the points stand as thus: in fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty two; Ravenclaw have four hundred and twenty six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy two." He finishes and there is a quiet amount of applause as the Slytherin's celebrate. Elsie hits her head against the wooden table frustrated and Fred pats her on the back sympathetically.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," says Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account." He says and Elsie looks up at him as the whole room becomes silent once more.  
"Ahem," Dumbledore says, his eyes twinkling. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes... first - to Mr. Ronald Weasley..." Dumbledore continues and the Gryffindor table turns to look at Ron who looks stunned. Elsie exchanges looks with Fred, George who are looking proudly at their little brother. "…for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years. I award Gryffindor House fifty points." Dumbledore finishes and the whole table erupts with cheers, almost raising the ceiling and Elsie hears Percy tell anyone that will listen,

"My little brother you know. Got past McGonagall's giant chess set."  
"Second - to Miss Hermione Granger...for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor House fifty points." Dumbledore adds and Elsie beams at an astonished Hermione who looks immensely pleased with herself,

"Well done!" Elsie whispers to her and she buries her face in her arms, overcome by tears.  
"Third - to Mr. Harry Potter..." Dumbledore says and the room goes deadly quiet. "...for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor House sixty points." He finishes and the whole room yells loudly, knowing that now Gryffindor was tying with Slytherin for the first time in years for the house cup.  
"There are all kinds of courage," Dumbledore adds, smiling. "It takes a great deal to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom." He finishes and the whole hall, apart from the Slytherin's, scream and applaud and congratulate the four first years for helping beat Slytherin. Elsie reaches over the table and hugs Hermione tightly before turning and hugging Fred and George as well. She shakes hands with Harry, Ron and Neville as the whole table descend on them  
"Which means, we need a little change of decoration." Dumbledore continues, clapping his hands and Elsie watches as the green Slytherin tapestries change to the Scarlet ones of Gryffindor. She grins smugly at the Slytherin table and watches as Pucey, Warrington and Jones shrink into their seats, and Hawking breaks down in tears.

"We did it, we did it!" Fred says wrapping his arms around Elsie tightly again and then they spring back, embarrassed, and turn away from each other and continue celebrating furiously with their other house mates.


	10. Year 3: The Chamber of Secrets

_**So this is the year when the chamber of secrets is opened, so this year may be longer than the rest. I try to aim for three chapters but it may end up being longer, there's a lot to fit in! Please review and enjoy! Thanks!**_

Year 4

Elsie sent letters frequently to the twins over the holidays, and occasionally to Angelina, Alicia and Katie. She even sent a few to Hermione but her father then told her to limit how many letters she was sending as he was being asked some difficult questions by the neighbours. So, when the time came for her to get back on the Hogwarts express she was excited to see her friends again. She popped her head in to a compartment where Hermione was sitting with a red haired girl,

"Hello Hermione! Have a nice holiday?" she asks brightly,

"Yes thanks, Elsie this is Ginny Weasley." Hermione says introducing the pair,

"Another Weasley?" she asks the red haired girl grinning,

"You're my brothers' friend aren't you?" she asks shyly,

"Yes, why? What have they been saying about me?" Elsie asks intrigued,

"Nothing." She replies turning as red as her hair.

"I'll see you later then." Elsie says waving to Hermione before dragging her trunk along down the train with her.

She finds her friends in a compartment together and Fred and George look up at her and beam.

"Where've you been?" they ask in unison,

"I was speaking to Hermione and your little sister." She says and they smile,

"Is she alright?"

"It seems so. So what did you get up to during the holidays?" she asks her friends as she stows away her trunk.

"Well, Fred and I drove a flying car to Surrey." George says proudly as Lee, Angelina, Alicia and Katie guffaw in awe, but Elsie gives them a withering look.

"And why did you do that, may I ask?"

"Well see, Harry's uncle and aunt that he lives with had locked him up in his room. Ron was starting to worry so we went to rescue him." Fred says,

"Wow, that's amazing." Angelina says in awe and Fred grins at her. For some reason this infuriates Elsie,

"Yes, yes, of course it was admirable… but what if you had been seen!? You could have gotten yourselves killed or expelled!"

"It was at night." George replies exasperated,

"That is no excuse! If you had been caught you wouldn't have only got yourselves expelled, but Ron and Harry too!" Elsie says scathingly,

"Oh Elsie give it a rest!" Alicia sighs,

"Yeah, you sound like our mother." Fred replies and she picks up her new school book and begins to read, occasionally giving Fred and George annoyed looks.

During the long train ride, Angelina, Alicia, Katie and Lee all leave the compartment in search of the food trolley, leaving Fred, George and Elsie sitting in stony silence, which is only broken when Fred proclaims,

"We're sorry Elsie!"

"We really are, we were just trying to help out a friend." George adds and she looks up at them and smiles slightly,

"I know you were, I just… don't know what… Just don't do it again!" she says hugging them both briefly, "I'm just relieved you're safe." She says releasing them and they smile at her,

"Guess what? We've been experimenting for our joke shop and we've come up with some really cool ideas."

"And we bumped into Malfoy in Diagon Alley, I think I hate him more than Warrington and Pucey. You should have heard what his father said about our family."

"Dad got into a fight with him in Flourish and Blotts." They say and they recount their stories to each other for the rest of the journey.

When they reach the great hall, they watch as Ginny Weasley gets sorted into Gryffindor which Fred, George and Percy all cheer about, but then George realises something.

"Where's Ron and Harry?" he asks his twin, who then scans the table also, but cannot find them either.

"They got onto the train right?" Fred asks him,

"I don't know… I can't remember." He replies thoughtfully.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Elsie says comfortingly before the twins, Angelina, Katie and Alicia, who are all on the Quidditch team, begin to talk tactics. Because of Harry being unconscious for the last match the year before, they had to forfeit the match which angered the twins to no end. Rumours however began to circulate around the table, that Ron and Harry had crashed the Weasleys flying car into the Whomping Willow,

"That's why they're late! I can't believe the little toe rags didn't tell us about it!" Fred says as Lee Jordan tells him the whole story,

"I'm sure that's not true! Why would they do such a thing?" Elsie asks disapprovingly,

"To make an entrance, I dunno." Lee says shrugging his shoulders,

"But look, Dumbledore and McGonagall have left the table. They've probably gone to sort them out." Alicia says pointing to the staff table and it's true, they've both disappeared.

"Wicked." The twins say together.

They head up to the common room and Elsie tries to read before heading to bed but when the door opens and Harry and Ron enter, the common room erupts with cheers and applause. Lee runs up to them both and yells,

"Brilliant! Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping willow, people'll be talking about that one for years!"

"Really, they could have gotten themselves killed!" Elsie says as Fred and George leave her and hurry up to the pair,

"Why couldn't you have called us back eh?" they ask them both and Hermione finds Elsie and sits beside her looking disapproving.

"They shouldn't deserve all this! They might have been spotted!" she says and Elsie nods,

"I know, or killed! I'm going to bed, see you later." She tells her before heading upstairs to her warm, cozy bed.

Several things occurred over the next few months. Firstly was that they had a famous author, Gilderoy Lockhart, as their new defence against the dark arts teacher, and Fred and George loathed him.

"He's so full of himself isnt he?" Fred asks George one lesson,

"He's just like Percy… well no one can be as bad as Percy." He replies,

"I agree," Elsie says joining in on the conversation and the twins stare at her in disbelief. Elsie MacDonald criticising a teacher? "I don't believe half of the nonsense he says in here. It's probably all made up." she says and the twins smile at her,

"Well there's an upside though."

"Which is?" Elsie asks them curiously,

"He'll be gone by the end of the year." George says,

"What makes you say that?" she replies bewildered,

"Every teacher we've had has gone by the end of the year. Look at Quirrell." Fred points out,

"Yes, but he had Vold- I mean, you know who sticking out the back of his head." She replies, "And I doubt Lockhart's got the same problem." She adds and they all turn to face him as he shows all his gleaming white teeth to Angelina and Alicia.

Elsie as usual was doing well with all her classes, and she laughed when Fred and George told her how awful Divination was,

"Well I did warn you that it sounded like a loud of waffle. You should have picked something fascinating, like ancient runes!"

"I think I'll pass." Fred teases and she shoots him a glare as they walk back to the common room after the Halloween feast which was superb as usual. They then realised something was wrong, as there was a large crowd standing still in the corridor.

"What's going on?" Elsie asks and in a blink of an eye the twins push through the throng until they are all at the front of the crowd. Elsie surveys the scene in horror. Mrs Norris hanging petrified from a torch bracket, Filch threatening Harry Potter as Ron and Hermione stand terrified, and writing on the walls in blood.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware." It reads and the twins are reading it too, disgusted and confused.

"You'll be next mudbloods!" Malfoy shouts aloud and Elsie instinctively grabs Fred and George by their hoods and holds them back until they calm down.

"Argus!" Dumbledore bellows, arriving at the scene, followed by McGonagall and several of the other teachers, he looks at the writing for a while before saying calmly but powerfully, "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately. Everyone except you three!" he says to Harry, Ron and Hermione. Fred and George look over their shoulders at their little brother before protectively hurrying Elsie along and back to the common room.

That evening Elsie took out her _Hogwarts: A history _and read the chapter which was on the Chamber of Secrets.

"Oh, this is horrible." She says aloud and the twins jump over the back of the couch and sit next to her,

"What is?" they ask,

"I knew I'd heard about the Chamber of secrets before! It says here that before Slytherin left the school after an argument with the other founders about who they should allow to study magic, he sealed a hidden chamber so that when his next heir returned they could open it and purge the school of all those unworthy to study magic!"

"Who is unworthy to study magic?"

"How would they purge the school?" they asks as Angelina, Alicia, Katie and Lee hang onto her every word.

"The Chamber is said to have a monster hidden inside of it. And the people unworthy to study magic… are muggle borns." She finishes and her friends gasp in shock, and Fred and George's eyes go as round as galleons.

"But they havent found a chamber have they?" Angelina asks worriedly,

"No, but maybe the heir of Slytherin has returned to the school." Lee says looking up at Elsie as he says so.

"Perhaps…" she says stiffly,

"But it's probably someone just having a joke." Fred says quickly, trying to cheer up Elsie who tries to get the picture of Mrs Norris out of her head.

A week later a notice goes up in the common room, announcing a new duelling club to be held.

"Ohhhh, that sounds exciting! Will you sign up?" she asks the twins as they appear,

"Alright, it'd be good to learn some new jinxes." George says as they head off with Lee. The next day, as they waited for the duelling lesson to begin Elsie comforts Hermione about the thought of a monster attacking muggle borns.

"Don't worry Hermione, they'll find the culprit soon. If we have Dumbledore then we're safe." She tells her as Lockhart steps onto the long podium in the centre of the room.

"Allow me to introduce my opponent, Professor Snape." He say and Snape steps onto the stage,

"I wonder if Snape will end up killing him." Fred whispers into Elsie's ear, and she stands on his foot in response.

"Don't be so mean!" she hisses back. The two teachers then show how to bow to each other and then they prepare to cast their spells, but before Lockhart can even open his mouth Snape bellows,

"Expelliarmus!" Lockhart flies backwards before landing in a heap at the other end of the platform. There is a great deal of laughter at this and Fred and George are among the many that do but soon they are partnered off and said to practice on each other. After a few minutes Harry and Draco Malfoy are being demonstrators and they are only meant to disarm, but they end up shooting many hexes at each other, before Malfoy makes a snake appear from the end of his wand and it slithers around the platform hissing.

"Oh dear!" Elsie hisses but out of the blue, Harry walks towards it rather calmly and starts speaking to it in a strange hissing language. The room falls silent and Snape eventually gets rid of it before a second year shouts at Harry,

"What are you playing at?"

"I don't understand? Why is everyone so afraid?" Elsie asks Fred and George as they sit at the Gryffindor table together,

"Harry is a Parselmouth, it means he can talk to Snakes." George says,

"So?" Elsie asks puzzled,

"So, only bad wizards speak Parseltongue!" Alicia explains,

"Slytherin was one himself." Angelina adds,

"But Harry isnt a bad wizard. He's just a boy, he's the one that got rid of you know who!" Elsie exclaims and the other girls exchange unsatisfied looks at her argument.

"Exactly, I don't think Harry is evil, and he's definitely not the heir of Slytherin, otherwise he would be in Slytherin, wouldn't he?" Fred states and Angelina looks at him quickly,

"Yes, I agree with Fred!" she exclaims beaming at him and Elsie puts down her cutlery in disgust,

"I'm going back to the common room, I'm not hungry." She says hurrying away, and it is true, she has suddenly lost her appetite.


	11. Protection and Jealousy

_**So what do you think? Feelings are starting to emerge aren't they? But let's see where they lead.**_

Protection and Jealousy

Over the next few weeks the rumours surrounding Harry being the heir of Slytherin escalated, leaving him an outcast from the rest of the students at Hogwarts. What had happened in the duelling club had spread far across the school in a matter of days, and Elsie felt sorry for him.

"It's a shame… after all he's suffered, and now he's being accused of releasing a monster back into the school." Elsie says at breakfast the next morning as Angelina laughs at something Fred just said. Elsie watches the pair feeling angry for some strange, unknown reason, and she bites into her toast with more envy then she first realises.

"It's ridiculous, deep down I think everyone knows it's not really him." George replies as they watch him get up from the table with Ron and Hermione and almost everyone stares as he goes.

"Oh well, we'll find a way to cheer him up." Fred says.

On a pleasant day the school heads out to the Quidditch pitch to watch Gryffindor versus Slytherin. During the match, something very odd happens. The bludger begins to follow Harry around the pitch,

"It's been charmed!" Elsie says loudly to Percy,

"Great giants, you're right!" he says indignantly. Elsie watches the match through her hands half the time as she watches Harry race about in the air for the snitch, whilst also trying to dodge the bludger. Fred and George try and wrestle it so it doesn't attack him and it misses them on several occasions by inches, making Elsie shriek and hide behind her hands once more. Soon however the whistle is blown and Gryffindor have won, but Harry is lying on the pitch.

"Come on!" Hermione says and Elsie follows her and Ron down to the pitch just as the bludger tries and attacks Harry on the ground.

"Hermione!" Elsie calls desperately as she is the closest one,

"Finite incantatem!" Hermione shouts directing her wand at the bludger and it bursts into flame and they all run towards Harry.

"I-I think my arm's broken." He stutters as Lockhart arrives,

"Don't worry Harry I will fix that arm of your's straight away." He says taking out his wand,

"No, not you!" Harry says desperately,

"He doesn't know what he's saying. Brackium immendo!" he chants and holds up Harry's arm, as it flops like jelly. There are cries and groans of disgust as Lockhart bends it right back,

"Well it very clearly is not broken." Lockhart blusters,

"Broken! There's no bones left!" Hagrid shouts angrily as Elsie silently agrees with him. The next morning which was a Sunday, a sixth year entered the common room and announced gravely,

"Colin Creevey has been petrified."

Due to the fact a student was petrified for a while afterwards everyone seemed terrified. Slytherin's monster suddenly seemed very real and one day Elsie enters the great hall a little later than everyone else, Fred and George sigh in relief.

"Thank Merlin you're alright!" Fred says and Angelina's face looks furious from Fred to Elsie before turning her back on them all and speaking to Alicia and Katie, her face red.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Elsie asks sitting opposite the twins,

"We heard there had been a double attack!" George says seriously,

"Really? By- by the monster?" she stutters and they nod, "Who was…" she begins, looking down the table fearfully, but she catches the sight of Hermione's bushy hair and she sighs in relief.

"We don't know, but apparently Harry was caught at the spot where it happened." Fred says anxiously,

"He's in Dumbledore's office right now." George adds and Elsie bites her lip.

"I don't think Harry could do it though, maybe he was just at the wrong place at the wrong…"

"I know who was attacked!" Lee says sitting beside Elsie, "It was Nearly Headless Nick and a second year Justin Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff." He says without pause,

"Nick was petrified?" Elsie asks stunned as Angelina and the others return to the conversation, "What could petrify a ghost?" she exclaims horrified, looking round at her friends.

The news of the attack spread all around the school, and Harry was more of an outcast than ever before. In the run up to Christmas, Fred and George persisted in following Elsie everywhere around the school, just in case she was attacked by the unknown and terrifying monster. This was fun for a while because she would get them to actually do their homework properly in the library for once, but she soon got annoyed by them skulking around outside her classes and once of twice when she came out of the girl's bathroom they would be waiting outside for her.

"Look, I appreciate the thought, but really I will be alright." She tells them after Herbology, after they rant at her for leaving the greenhouse a few seconds before them.

"I'm sorry that we want to make sure our best friend doesn't get petrified by Slytherin's monster of horrors." Fred says sarcastically,

"It's lovely that you're so concerned but you don't have to accompany me everywhere you know. I know how much it secretly annoys you." She says patting them sympathetically on the backs. They were much taller than the year before, and she hadn't grown much at all, so she couldn't even reach their shoulders.

"You're right, it does annoy us, especially when you won't help with our homework." George says slyly as he and Fred grin,

"Our O.W.L's are next year and you need to prepare _yourselves." _She scolds and they roll their eyes,

"Alright, alright, we'll back off." Fred says and she grins at them,

"Good." And then after a while adding, "Am I really your best friend?"

The twins are soon preparing for the Quidditch season which means that Elsie gets some time away from them following her everywhere, but they appear to have put Lee Jordan in charge of her safety whilst they are training.

"So, where are you going?" he says as he jumps out at her,

"To the library, why?"

"Oh good, I need to go there too!" he says and she looks at him sceptically,

"Have you ever been to the library Lee?"

"Well err… no but…" he says looking awkward,

"You don't have to follow me Lee, I'll be fine. I won't tell Fred and George." She whispers slyly before heading out of the common room. Angelina seemed to find this over protectiveness much more annoying than Elsie herself,

"Why don't you take care of yourself for once?" she asks her as Fred and George get put in detention for jinxing Warrington and Pucey for shouting aloud in the courtyard,

"I hope you're attacked next MacDonald!"

"I don't ask them to be so protective!" Elsie replies hurt at the glare in Angelina's eyes as she strides away with Alicia who shoots an apologetic glance at her.

A few weeks into November and a notice goes up alerting the students to the date of the next trip to Hogsmeade. Elsie has never been before because she was too busy the year before with her homework and she is surprised when Cedric asks her in Potions one day,

"Elsie, I was wondering whether you… well whether you wanted too… too come to Hogsmeade with me on the 14th." He says and she looks at him stunned,

"Ummm…" is all she says while she thinks of what to say next, "Who else is going?" she asks him,

"Well, I thought… it could just be us." He says and her mind races even faster, but on the outside she remains calm. For some reason the first thought in her mind is, 'What about Fred?' which she casts aside befuddled and then, 'Does he mean like a date?'

"Sorry, Cedric. I don't even know whether I'm going at all. I have a lot of homework I need to get done." She lies feeling her cheeks burn red as Cedric looks rather disappointed,

"Oh, right, yeah." He says as Professor Snape clears his throat,

"Anymore talk between you two will result in points taken from each of your houses." He drawls and Elsie gets on with her Babbling beverage.

That evening in the common room as Elsie finishes off the remainder of her homework and corrects Fred and George's for them they begin to wind her up.

"Els, come to Hogsmeade with us, go on, you know you want to!" Fred says first,

"I don't know, I have a lot of homework to do."

"Or you won't come because Cedric has already asked you?" George asks,

"Be quiet!" she snaps at them,

"I'll take that as a yes Fred."

"Same here George. So come on are you excited about your date?" Fred teases,

"I told him what I will tell you again, I have too much homework to go to Hogsmeade." She says packing up her books angrily,

"Please come Els! Just so we can keep an eye on you!" Fred says and she turns to face them angrily,

"Fine, but only for a short while!" she says relenting. She in facts stays much longer in Hogsmeade than she wanted to, loosing track of the time because of how much fun she has with Fred, George, Lee, Angelina, Alicia and Katie. Angelina is acting much friendlier to Elsie than before, and she guesses it's because Alicia put her up to it. Elsie is fascinated by the whole village for she had never been to a purely wizarding village before, or to Hogsmeade, and she inspected all the shops and bought herself a new quill for her last one was wrecked in one of Lockhart's disastrous lessons, and a new book which she reads at the Gryffindor dinner table that evening, eating at a very slow rate because of how transfixed she is by it. She also went to the post office, the shrieking shack, Zonkos, Honeyduke's and the Three Broomsticks where she and her friends all had a glass of butterbeer.

But by her next lesson in Potions, she was met with a very unfriendly Cedric.

"Hello." She says warmly sitting down beside him, but he ignores her. "Cedric what's wrong?" she asks and he shoots her a dirty look,

"I saw you. I saw you in Hogsmeade with your friends. Looks like you were having a merry old time."

"Cedric, I'm sorry! It's just… I like you as a friend and I didn't even know whether I was going to Hogsmeade or not until two days ago. Please forgive me!" she asks him desperately and he looks at her sadly,

"You could have just said you wanted to go as friends." He mumbles,

"That still wouldn't have made me feel better. You deserve someone much better than me." Elsie says opening her Potion's book as Snape enters the classroom.

"Did you have an argument with pretty boy Diggory?" Fred asks Elsie as they battle through the rain towards the greenhouses,

"We didn't have an argument we just had a discussion." She replies coldly,

"It looked like an argument to me." George says smirking,

"Oh, leave off. You only don't like him because he is on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team." She says over the sudden gust of wind.

"We do like him, we just like teasing you about him." Fred says grinning at her as her and George hurry in front of her to the greenhouse. Fred and George do indeed find a way to cheer up Harry though, although it isnt what Elsie considers the regular way of cheering someone up. Because they find it so ridiculous they make fun of the fact everyone is scared of him, they pretend to ward him off with Garlic as he walks down the corridor, or asks him loudly who his next victim will be, and once or twice Elsie was with them when they march ahead of Harry down the corridor shouting,

"Make way for the heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through…"

"It is not a laughing matter!" Percy says stopping them as they walk past,

"Get out of the way Percy, Harry's in a hurry!" Fred replies,

"Yeah, he's nipping of to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea with his fanged servant!" George replies as they continue on, Elsie trying not to laugh with difficulty.

That Christmas most of the school leaves for the holidays, and only really the Weasleys, Elsie, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Malfoy and some other Slytherin's remain.

"Yippee, Christmas with the Slytherin's." Fred says darkly on the first day of the holidays.

"I like it, it's… quiet." Elsie says looking around pleased. The great hall looks as magnificent as it always does for Christmas, and it seems very tranquil with almost nobody inside. Fred and George play a game of wizard's chess as Elsie watches them whilst she reads up on the new charms they will be learning over the holidays.

"Do you ever stop reading?" George asks her,

"No, and I'm not going to." She replies without looking up at them. That Christmas she hurries into their dormitory and hands them her presents,

"And don't worry, I didn't give you a diary. I know you won't use them." She says disappointedly before heading back to the common room. She spends a lot of time with the twins that Christmas, much more than usual because there isnt anyone else there, and she helps them a little with their inventing before they head for lunch together. They are joined by Percy which Fred and George are not pleased about and after eating as quickly as they possibly can Fred and George retreat with Elsie whilst Percy is in the middle of telling them all about his N.E.W.T examinations that he has yet to do. They sit in front of the fire toasting marshmallows and toast on the roaring flame, whilst the twins read the _All you need to know about: Quidditch teams _book she had bought them both for Christmas and they share her large box of Bertie Bott's every flavour beans they bought for her.


	12. Christmas and Cats

Christmas and Cats

On Boxing Day Elsie noticed the absence of Hermione at the breakfast table, and she starts to worry about whether her absence means she's been attacked too.

"Why don't you ask Harry and Ron if you're so worried?" Fred asks her and she looks up and sees them sitting at the breakfast table alone.

"I'll be back in a moment." She says getting to her feet and hurrying over to them.

"Excuse me, Ron, Harry…" she begins and the pair of them look up at her, focusing on her weird, multicoloured clothing, "I couldn't help noticing Hermione's absence. She hasn't been petrified has she?" Elsie asks worried,

"Oh, no. She's just… well she's not petrified, but she is in the hospital wing." Harry says looking awkwardly at Ron,

"Oh, is she ok?"

"Yes, she'll be fine in a few days."

"Oh, alright. Thanks." Elsie says walking back to the twins.

"So?" they ask her expectantly,

"She's in the hospital wing, but she's not petrified. I'll go and see her later." She explains and they nod, so when the twins go outside in the snow, she heads to the hospital wing and knocks on the door, Madam Pomfrey's face appears.

"Excuse me, I was wondering whether I could see Hermione Granger?" Elsie asks politely,

"I don't know whether she wants to see anyone at the moment I'm afraid." She replies but Elsie then hears Hermione's house,

"Who is it?"

"It's Miss MacDonald for you." Madam Pomfrey replies and then Hermione says something else and Madam Pomfrey allows her through. She heads to the bed the healer directs her too and her mouth falls open as she takes in Hermione.

"Hermione, what happened?" she gasps, sitting at the end of her bed, Hermione's face is covered with fur, she has cat like ears and a tail. She looks like she's gotten Polyjuice potion mixed up, but that's much too advanced for a second year.

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"Was it Malfoy?"

"No, it was just an accident." She says quickly and Elsie bites her lip.

"Did you have a good Christmas?" she asks at a loss of what to say,

"Yes, considering." She says looking down at her furry hands.

"When will you be out?"

"Soon, I guess."

"I was worried you'd been petrified for a while." Elsie says sounding concerned and Hermione smiles at her,

"Thanks for coming. I'm fine." She says and Elsie nods and gets to her feet,

"I hope you come back to school soon." She says before leaving. She wouldn't tell Fred and George the real reason Hermione was in the hospital wing though, she knew they would tease her awfully.

School term resumes and with it brings damp weather and Fred, George, Angelina, Alicia and Katie all complain about Oliver Wood.

"He's got us out playing in the rain for hours!" Katie says blowing her nose,

"I havent felt dry in ages!" George agrees,

"I have hardly anytime to do my homework." Angelina says and Elsie suddenly notices how close she and Fred are sitting together, which for some reason makes her turn the page of her book with vengeance and as she calms down she wonders why she is acting so strangely.

"Well maybe next year you shouldn't try out for the Quidditch team, it is our O.W.L year after all." Elsie says and her friends turn to stare at her as if she is a lunatic.

"Els, you may be brilliant and all, but you really don't get Quidditch." Fred says and Angelina clicks her tongue slightly and Alicia shoots her a look of caution before smiling sheepishly at Elsie. 'What's gotten into them all of a sudden?' Elsie thinks to herself.

A few weeks into the term and there is another Quidditch match and Fred and George enter the great hall for breakfast looking excitable,

"We have to hand it to Oliver, without him I doubt we would be this well prepared." George says sitting beside Elsie,

"I'm sure you have the match in the bag." Elsie replies as Margot swoops down and delivers a letter from her father. She reads it quickly and finds that he is well and on his way to Germany for a business meeting,

"What does your dad actually do?" George asks interestedly,

"He's a lawyer for a business company. It's rather dull, I've already been looking into things I want to do when I leave school, I might want to be a healer, although you need really good grades…"

"Els, do you think you can save this speech for our seventh year before we actually leave school?" Fred asks her and she sighs,

"I suppose that would make more sense as I will have hopefully settled on something by then. I'll see you two later, good luck." She says getting to her feet as Alicia and Angelina sit down. However, while she and Ron and Hagrid wait in the stands for the match to start, no action on the pitch takes place for much longer than usual.

"Do you think they're alright?" Elsie asks Hagrid,

"Yeah, they're probably lookin' for a lost bludger or summin'." He replies as Ron looks through his binoculars at the pitch. McGonagall strides onto the field and presses her wand to her neck before announcing, her voice echoing around the stadium,

"May I have your attention! This Quidditch match has been cancelled, all students are to return to their house common rooms immediately." She says and Elsie exchanges glances with Ron, both of whom have gotten better acquainted through Fred and George.

"Come on." Elsie says as they hurry down the stairs and before they can head towards the castle McGonagall appears with Harry who looks puzzled.

"Mr Weasley, please follow me up to the school." She says and they hurry off.

"I heard that that mudblood Granger had been attacked. Pity, I was hoping she would be the one to get killed off." She overhears Malfoy say to his friends Crabbe and Goyle,

"How dare you!" Elsie spits at him, drawing out her wand,

"What's happening here?" a voice asks and she turns around to see Lockhart hurrying towards the crowd, "Put your wands away, both of you and head back to your common room. You really shouldn't attempt any jinxing until you have learned them properly from the masters." He says grinning around at the crowd and disgusted, Elsie stuffs her wand back beneath her cloak as Warrington shouts,

"Keep your head down freak!"

That afternoon McGonagall enters the Gryffindor common room and reads out a notice. Elsie doesn't really hear her, as she is too busy staring at a spot on the carpet, thinking about poor Hermione lying petrified on a bed in the hospital wing. She had only just been let out of there and now she had been attacked.

"Could I have your attention please?" McGonagall begins and the dull chatter soon dies away, "Due to recent events these new rules will be put into affect immediately." She says unrolling a piece of parchment, Elsie's eyes fill with tears as she half listens to McGonagall, "All students will return to their house common rooms by six o'clock every evening. All students will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No exceptions." She says rolling it back up and looking sadly around the room, "I should tell you this, unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught, it is likely the school will be closed." She says before leaving the room.

"They can't close the school, can they?" Alicia asks the small group,

"The board of governors might have no choice." Lee replies sullenly.

"They can't though! Otherwise… otherwise how will we learn? My father will refuse to send me abroad to be taught, I'd have to go to a muggle school." Alicia says solemnly rubbing her eyes and Fred sits down beside her on the carpet and nudges her gently with his elbow,

"Don't worry, Dumbledore will catch the dirty rotten…"

"Fred!" Angelina interrupts,

"Sorry, I mean, they'll catch them soon."

Before dinner Elsie hurries with Fred and George, who refuse to allow her to go on her own, to the hospital wing to see Hermione, but Madam Pomfrey denies them entry.

"I'm sorry but their attacker may come back to finish them off. We just can't take any chances." She says shutting the door again quickly,

"Come on, we did all we could." George says sympathetically and with one backwards glance at the door, Elsie allows the twins to pull her down the corridor and into the great hall. Soon Elsie realises the strain being put on the teachers, all of them are as worried as the students, but Elsie feels glad that nobody believe Harry is the culprit anymore. Everyone knows that he and Hermione are best friends and he would never attack her, so at least there is less gossiping about him. Elsie asks him most days about Hermione but he and Ron don't seem to know anything,

"We're sorry Elsa, Madam Pomfrey won't let us in either." Harry tells her and she doesn't bother to correct him, she's gotten used to it by now. Lockhart is constantly going on about how he wishes he was there to save all the victims as he knew just what to do, and during a defence against the dark arts lesson, after he announced this fact Fred and George exchanged looks and muttered,

"That's likely." This caused Elsie to burst into silent giggles and Angelina and Alicia to cast them dirty looks. The two girls loved Lockhart. But he couldn't even repair a broken vase, Elsie had chosen not to believe a word he came out with, and hadn't really learned that much from him all year, the only things she had learned was from her books.

"He is the smarmiest bloke in the world… and we grew up with Percy!" George says over dinner.

The next morning they are shocked when they enter the hall and find Dumbledore's and Hagrid's chairs empty.

"Where do you think they are?" Fred asks Elsie as they take their seats beside Lee.

"You don't reckon they've been petrified?" she asks them desperately,

"No, no that can't be the reason." Angelina says in denial.

"I know." Lee says appearing beside Fred,

"You know everything Lee, go on." Replies his best friend,

"Hagrid was taken to Azkaban, apparently they think he's behind the attacks…"

"But that's ridiculous, Hagrid's one of the kindest people I've ever met!" Elsie exclaims,

"…and Dumbledore's been asked to step aside by the board of governors." Lee continues and Fred and George burst into speech outraged,

"They can't get rid of Dumbledore!" Fred says infuriated,

"The muggle borns won't stand a chance with him gone!" Angelina agrees and Elsie blanches,

"Elsie!" George exclaims, his voice full of concern and she looks up again at them as Fred shoots Angelina an angry glare and she gets up from the table and storms away.

"I'm okay." She says hoarsely, not admitting that she knew Angelina was right.

A few weeks later and the end of the year almost in sight, the spirits of the school has risen significantly. During Herbology Elsie raises her hand boldly,

"Yes, Miss MacDonald?" Professor Sprout asks her kindly,

"I was wondering when the Mandrakes will be ready to administer to the petrified victims." She says proudly, ignoring Warrington and Pucey as they jump up and down in their seats, imitating her. Fred flicks some dragon dung at the pair of them angrily.

"They shall be ready in a few days." She says smiling at her and the class erupts into cheers and applause.

"Thank you, thank you! Settle down, come along now get on with your work." Professor Sprout says still smiling and when she passes Elsie who is squeezing Bobutuber pus into vials she says,

"Brilliant work ten points to Gryffindor." She says beaming at her fondly and Elsie returns it, knowing full well that she didn't get the points only because of her work.


	13. The Heir of Slytherin

_**Hi! This will be a short chapter I am sure for those people still reading this! I am very pleased if you are, by the way! The next school year for our characters will include much more romance blossoming! I have mixed parts of the book and the film together wherever they clash, just in case people are wondering. **_

The Heir of Slytherin

The next day during lunch, McGonagall's voice boomed around the castle magically,

"All students are to return to their house dormitories at once. All teachers to the second floor corridor immediately." It says and Elsie looks at the twins nervously,

"There must have been another attack." George says as they get to their feet and run along the hall like the other pupils who are also thinking the same thing. It is chaos, the teachers have disappeared and everyone is trying desperately to run as fast as they can to their common rooms.

"Excuse me, I'm a prefect!" Percy bellows indignantly as he tries to keep order,

"Ah!" Elsie exclaims as she is pushed away from the twins by a tide of sixth and seventh year Hufflepuff's.

"Els!" Fred cries as she battles her way through the throng to her friends again,

"It must have been a really bad attack." George says worriedly as they run up the stairs,

"Come on, we don't want to get separated." Fred says taking Elsie's hand as they try and battle their way up the stairs and down the corridor, Elsie breathes a sigh of relief as the fat lady's portrait comes into view and they hurry inside.

"Where's Ron and Ginny?" George asks looking around the room,

"They're probably with Percy, they'll be alright." Fred replies as Angelina, Alicia, Katie and Lee hurry towards them. Their eyes fall on Elsie and Fred's hands still joined together and Elsie looks down at them only just realising and her and Fred spring away from each other.

"Come on sit down." Lee says and they head to the corner closest the window.

"Do you think someone's been killed?" Elsie asks calmly,

"Don't say that!" Katie cries,

"It could be possible." Lee says reasonably,

"I heard that when the chamber was last opened fifty years ago someone died." Elsie chokes and their eyes focus on her,

"Well at least you're safe." Angelina says forcing a smile at her and she returns it,

"Thanks Angelina." Elsie replies smiling at her weakly. Suddenly the common room door opens and Harry and Ron stumble into the common room, shortly followed by Percy and then Professor McGonagall. Harry and Ron look terrible, like they've been petrified themselves, and Professor McGonagall calls,

"Fred, George!" and they get up and walk over to her, "I am so sorry to inform you that your sister, Ginny has been taken by the monster, into the chamber of Secrets."

"What? P-Professor…" Percy stutters aghast as Fred and George look at her in horror,

"I will be sending an owl to your parents immediately, I am so very sorry." She says sympathetically to them all before heading out of the room.

Using her knowledge of knowing when something is wrong with her two best friends, Elsie gets to her feet and is the only one who walks over to them tentatively.

"Fred, George, what's wrong?" she asks as they look at her with a pained expression,

"Ginny… she's… the monster…" Fred get's out, before screwing up his face as if he's about to cry and Elsie silently wraps her arms around his middle, gently,

"The monster took Ginny into the chamber." George finishes for him, blinking back the tears as Elsie releases Fred, clasping her hands over her mouth. Little Ginny Weasley. So silent and shy, she had sat with her at Christmas, she had spoken to her once or twice a week to make sure she was settling in alright.

"Oh no. I am so, so sorry." Elsie says quietly.

"I must send an owl to mum and dad." Percy says, almost running up to the boys dormitory and they don't see him for the rest of the afternoon.

Most people in the dormitory, including Lee, Alicia, Katie and Angelina decide to get packing as it is obvious the governors will be closing the school, but Elsie and Harry sit with the Weasleys, waiting… waiting for news. Elsie sat in between the twins, comforting them silently, unable to say anything, just like anyone else. They sat in silence for what seemed like days, before Fred and George silently headed upstairs to bed. Elsie gets to her feet, deciding to get some rest as well. She turns to Harry and Ron and whispers,

"I'm sorry… really I am." Before trudging upstairs to her bed. Angelina and Alicia are there, as well as Julie and Katherine.

"Any news?" Angelina asks her as she enters and Elsie shakes her head.

"Fred and George have gone to bed." She explains as she starts to change.

"Why would the monster take her though? She's pure blood!" Alicia says as Julie and Katherine shut the curtains around their beds annoyed.

"I don't know." Elsie says climbing into bed,

"Maybe she knew something." Angelina says quietly,

"Maybe." Elsie replies hoarsely, and she tosses and turns for hours, imagining poor little Ginny Weasley and what may be happening to her down in the chamber.

The next morning, Elsie wakes extremely early. She didn't get much sleep at all thinking about Ginny and she changes silently as the others still sleep. She walks slowly down the stairs to the common room, where she finds Harry, Ron, Percy, Fred, George, Mrs Weasley and a red haired balding man that she guessed was Mr Weasley standing in the centre of the room. Hardly anyone else is awake and when Fred and George see her, they rush towards her and Fred hugs Elsie so tightly that he lifts her off the ground.

"What's going on?" she asks as he sets her down and she then is hugged tightly by George as Mrs Weasley dabs her eyes with a handkerchief.

"Harry and Ron saved Ginny! She's safe, she's alive!" Fred says beaming,

"They did what?" she exclaims and Fred and George recount the whole tale of the pair of them finding the entrance to the chamber in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"How could I have been so stupid? I never once thought of asking Myrtle how she died even though I've been to see her so many times!" Elsie exclaims embarrassed and the twins continue with the story. They say how the monster was a Basilisk and the heir if Slytherin was he who must not be named who was possessing Ginny through one of his old diaries.

"Wow, that must have been very dark and powerful magic, how did you destroy it?" she asks Harry,

"I stabbed it with a Basilisk fang." He says, his face turning red,

"How extraordinary. I'm so glad she's alright." Elsie says to Mr and Mrs Weasley who beam at her,

"She's with Madam Pomfrey just now, we should really go and check on her." Mrs Weasley says and they leave.

That night the feast is amazing. Dumbledore is reinstated as Headmaster and he announces that all exams have been cancelled, much to the delight of Fred and George, although Elsie shakes her head disapprovingly. Also he states that Professor Lockhart will be unable to carry on teaching due to the fact he has to regain his memory back and the twins and Elsie exchange pleased glances while Angelina and Alicia groan disappointedly. Hermione and the other victims return to the feast un-petrified and she runs and hugs Harry before shaking hands with Ron.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Elsie calls to her and she waves and grins. Ginny turns up for the feast looking unscathed. Hagrid arrives towards the end and there is a great deal of applause and cheering for him before the students and teachers settle down long enough for Dumbledore to announce that Gryffindor has won the house cup for the second time in a row.

"Yes!" Fred and George shout together and the room explodes with noise once again in celebration. After the feast Mrs Weasley seeks out Fred and George in the entrance hall,

"We'll see you back at home tomorrow." She tells her sons as Elsie leaves them to say goodbye, and once she is out of earshot she asks her sons, "She's a nice girl isnt she. I thought so the first time she spoke to me on the platform. Why don't you ask her round during the holidays for a few days?" she asks them,

"Alright mum." George says looking embarrassed as his mum flattens his hair,

"Do you fancy her?" she asks them both,

"No." they exclaim even more embarrassed, although George turns more red than his twin.

"Well off you go then." Mr Weasley says and they hurry back up to the common room.

The following day as Fred, George and Elsie take their seats in an empty compartment on the train home, Fred brings up the question their mother asked them the previous day.

"Our mum was wandering whether you wanted to come round for a few days during the holidays." He asks picking at a whole in his jumper,

"Oh, alright. That does sound like fun, I've never been in a wizards house before. But I must ask my father first." She says brightly grinning at them, as they begin to talk about what goings on will take place the next year.


	14. Holidays at the Burrow

_**Soooo lots of things are going on for our characters this year. This is O.W.L year and their all going through that stage where they start to notice the opposite sex more. Let's so what develops! Oh, I still don't own the rights to Harry Potter and I doubt I ever will. **_

Holidays at the Burrow

Elsie is packed and ready to leave for the Weasleys house. She sits in the living room with her father silently. They had been sitting in silence for weeks now after her father finally told her the truth of how her mother died. Elsie was shocked at first, and then angry that her dad hadn't told her sooner… that he had been keeping it a secret for years.

"What time did they say they would be here by?" her father asks her, breaking the tension between them.

"Six o'clock." She replies coolly.

"It's quarter to seven." Her father replies grumpily. He had disapproved of his daughter going to stay with a pair of boys when she first asked him, but when she expressed firmly that they were just friends he relented moodily.

"That's Fred and George for you, always late." She says forcing a smile but he doesn't return it. It was another half hour before they arrived via floo powder and Elsie's father shrieked and fell off his chair. Mr Weasley, balding, red haired but smiling entered the room looking around,

"Hello again, Elsie." He says shaking her hand,

"Hello Mr Weasley."

"And you must be Mr MacDonald." He says wringing her father's hand and the two begin to talk, her father shifting nervously on the spot. Suddenly, Percy appeared looking pompous as usual. He puffs out his chest and Elsie catches the badge on his jumper with Head Boy on it.

"Hello Elsie, I hope I find you well?" Percy asks, shaking her hand as though they have never met before,

"Yes, thank you Percy-" she begins but Fred emerges from the fireplace, shunting Percy out of the way before shaking Elsie's hand,

"Elsie, simply marvellous to see you again." And Elsie laughs as George emerges and pushes his twin aside,

"Simply spiffing to see you again old girl."

"Less with the old!" Elsie exclaims grinning at the pair of them.

"I take it Percy's informed you about his new superior position." Fred says grinning,

"But I haven't informed you of mine." Elsie says rummaging in her pocket before bringing out a small badge with the Gryffindor Lion and a large P on it.

"Oh no! Now you're going to be a right kill joy." George says looking annoyed,

"Only if you two break the rules!" she replies, upset by their lack of interest,

"Which we always do." Fred replies and then realising they've upset her he smiles, "Congratulations prefect." And Elsie grins at them.

"Right, time to go I think!" Mr Weasley announces,

"Bye father." Elsie says quietly to him and he waves as she takes some floo powder from Mr Weasley, steps into the fireplace and shouts,

"The burrow!"

She emerges in a kitchen messy and untidy and full of character. A long wooden table sits in the centre and little Ginny Weasley is sitting at it,

"Hello." Elsie says smiling at her and she turns red,

"Hi." She replies quietly.

"Elsie! How good to see you again!" Mrs Weasley says hurrying down the stairs and into the kitchen before dusting off Elsie's clothes.

"Thank you Mrs Weasley." She replies as the twins emerge behind her,

"Are you hungry? I can fix something up for you?" she asks,

"No thank you, I've already eaten." Elsie replies as Mrs Weasley pulls a chair out for her, gesturing her to sit down.

"I suppose you've heard the good news about Percy? Second head boy in the family!" she says proudly,

"And the last." Fred and George mutter and Elsie shoots them a disapproving look, the corners of her mouth twitching a little.

"I don't doubt that! You boys should take a leaf out of Percy's book." She says and Fred and George roll their eyes as their mother turns her back on them. Percy and Mr Weasley appear and sit down at the table together,

"Have you heard mother? Elsie has been made a prefect." Percy says and she feels her cheeks burn.

"There we are then!" Mrs Weasley says placing a large pot of soup onto the table, "You boys should also follow Elsie's example!" she says and they exchange venomous looks before glancing at Percy who doesn't notice them staring at him.

For the few days Elsie stays at the burrow, she shares Ginny's room and soon gets to know the shy little girl quite well and she soon opens up to her.

"Fred and George still don't know that I steal their broomsticks and ride them when they're not around." She tells her one day smiling mischievously,

"Well I won't be the one to tell them." Elsie replies smiling fondly at her. However, during the holidays her, Ginny, Fred and George go to the Weasleys orchard they own and play a game of Quidditch, Ginny is very good compared to Elsie so the teams are slightly uneven, and the twins argue every time about who should be partnered with her.

"Well if it's going to cause this much fuss I won't play at all!" and she takes to sitting under a shaded tree whilst reading, as the others play. Elsie soon learns more past times of the family, and helps Ron, Fred and George de-gnome the garden and although she has read up on magical gnomes, she still finds the small potato looking creatures strange compared to the ones in her fathers garden. Fred and George spend most of their time winding up Percy by stealing his head boy badge and altering it slightly so that it reads, 'Hideous boy' or 'huge bottom' and occasionally they even throw gnomes through his window.

"What are you doing?" Elsie asks them one day whilst they do this,

"Hold on! Wait for it…" Fred says before they hear Percy shouting shrilly at the top of his lungs and the twins burst into laughter.

"You both are too mean on Percy, so what if he's ambitious?" she asks the pair as they watch the gnome come flying out the window again.

"He's not just ambitious though is he?"

"He's a right pain in the bum."

"You should have seen him the first week he got his badge."

"We were seriously considering trying to find Sirius Black-"

"So we could convince him to murder Percy too." George finishes as they enter the twins messy and cluttered bedroom.

The pair begin to experiment as usual and over the few days of her arrival she has gotten used to the bangs coming from their room, but she is the only one who knows what they are really doing.

"Our mum will go mental if she finds out, so you cannot tell her." The twins had warned Elsie after they told her the real reason behind the bangs and crashes,

"I promise." She had vowed.

"So who is Sirius Black?" she asks bewildered sitting down on the edge of George's bed, and they look at her taken aback.

"You don't know who Sirius Black is?"

"No, I'm a muggle born remember." She says impatiently,

"Sirius Black is a mass murderer. He's broken out of Azkaban."

"He was one of Voldermort's biggest supporters, when Harry defeated him he went round the bend… well that's what dad says."

"Why's he broken out of Azkaban? I thought it was impossible?" Elsie says aghast,

"It is. That's why it's such a big deal."

"No one else has broken out before." Fred adds,

"He killed 13 people with a single curse, most of them were muggles." George says solemnly,

"I can't believe it… with him on the run then you both have to be careful! No wanderings in the dark forest or… or sneaking to Hogsmeade through one of those passageways." Elsie pleads,

"Calm down Els, he's hardly going to try and get into Hogwarts is he?" Fred says adding a strange ingredient to a solution bubbling away in his cauldron.

"Well we have to take caution." She replies forcefully.

All too soon she had to leave the burrow and return home, Mrs Weasley hugged her tightly before she left, making her realise how much she had missed out on because of her mothers tragic death. Mr Weasley had left early that morning for work she Elsie didn't get a chance to thank him.

"Thank you for having me Mrs Weasley." She says politely,

"It was a pleasure having you to stay. You must come again soon, won't you?" she asks,

"I would love to." She says before waving to Ginny, Ron and Percy who sit at the kitchen table. "I'll see you at school." She tells them all before wrapping one arm around each of the twins in a joint hug.

"We'll see you real soon Madam prefect." Fred says bowing and she lets out a frustrated noise, as George gets down on his knees and pretends to worship her.

"Cut it out you two! You should be pleased for your friend!" Mrs Weasley orders as they grin at Elsie,

"See you later." She says stepping into the fireplace and shouting her address and she squints her eyes tightly before re-emerging in her own living room.

"Did you have a nice time?" her father asks her from his study,

"Yes thank you. It was very enjoyable." She replies walking up to her bedroom.

The twins sent her a letter a week later, announcing that Mr Weasley had won the annual Daily Prophet prize draw and they were all going to see their oldest brother Bill in Egypt. Elsie's letter back to them expressed their delight in hearing their winnings and also told them to write as many notes on the Egyptian wizards so she could read them when they returned. Margot the tawny owl sat looking expectantly up at her, refusing to take the letter.

"What do you want now?" Elsie asks her quizzically and after a moment she feeds her owl some nuts. Margot then nibbles her finger affectionately before taking off. It was true her owl was extremely greedy but Elsie couldn't help spoiling her. A few days later Elsie travelled with her father to Diagon Alley so she could get her new school books. She studied the wanted posters for Sirius Black for a while until her father dragged her away.

"I'm sure I saw that man on the news. Isnt he a mass murderer?" he asks her,

"Yes."

"And he's one of your lot?" he asks her and she rounds on him furiously,

"One of our lot? What do you mean?! You know what, I can do my shopping by myself, why don't you head back to the station, I'll find a fireplace and get home myself." Elsie says storming off as her father splutters in protest. After buying all her books and equipment for the new school year, Elsie finds a fireplace linked to the floo network and travels back home, her father not having returned yet. For the rest of the holidays they didn't speak much to each other, except maybe a 'good morning' or 'goodnight' Fred and George wrote to her often and informed her that they had tried to shut Percy in a pyramid but were caught by a raging Mrs Weasley. Even though she desperately wants to tell them how her father is behaving, she doesn't… and they tell her about how their father found out from his work in the ministry that Harry Potter blew up his aunt.

'Dear Fred and George,

That's terrible! Harry could have been expelled or sent to Azkaban! And what if he had met Sirius Black, I bet he would want to get his hands on Harry, especially if he was you know who's most loyal servant.

From Elsie'

Their reply was quite humorous although they didn't seem very concerned,

'Dear Elsie,

Calm down, Harry is fine. We're at the leaky cauldron right now with him. Percy's being the world's biggest prat as usual, we've stolen his head boy badge and is going demented. See you on the train!

From Fred and George'

Elsie rolled her eyes as she placed their letter in the drawer with all the others she had received from friends over the summer and then continued with her packing, excited to see all her friends again, even if some of them had forgotten her name again. She had decided she didn't really care anymore, she had much bigger priorities with her O.W.L's on the horizon, and besides, if Fred, George and Cedric remembered her name, and Angelina and Alicia at times, she didn't care what anyone else thought about her. She had her friends and her magic and that was all she would ever need.


	15. Dementors and Demons

Dementors and Demons

Three days later and Elsie has to fulfil her prefect duties before finding her friends and sitting in a compartment with them.

"Where've you been?" Alicia asks as she sits down beside her,

"I had to patrol the train for a while, you know because I'm a prefect." She says proudly,

"Ohhh congratulations!" she says smiling,

"Why didn't you tell us in your letters?" Angelina asks,

"I wanted to tell you face to face, the Slytherin prefects are horrible though, that awful Maria Hawking and Pucey." Elsie tells them all and they exchange significant looks.

"I do hope we get a good defence against the dark arts teacher this year, I want to actually pass my O.W.L in the subject." Elsie says when they get onto the topic of exams as Fred, George and Lee enter the compartment,

"Please say you aren't talking about our exams?" Lee asks,

"Well we are, they are very important…" Elsie begins but they shut the compartment door and leave, returning a while later when Elsie is busy reading and Katie, Angelina and Alicia are talking about Black.

"Why do you think he's escaped?" Katie asks fearfully,

"I don't know, but whatever it is must be a bad reason." Angelina says,

"I read up on him you know, apparently he was friends with Lily and James Potter." Elsie says from her books and everyone turns to stare at her,

"He was friends with Harry's parents?" Fred asks incredulously,

"Poor him." Angelina says sadly,

"I doubt he knows, otherwise he would have told us?" George asks his twin who nods,

"Well, it must be clear why he's escaped then." Elsie says not looking up from her book until she realises the compartment has gone silent. She looks up and finds them all staring at her expectantly and she slams her book down,

"Well clearly he wants to get Harry doesn't he? Harry was the one that caused you know who to vanish, Black probably thinks by getting Harry Voldermort will return again." She says ignoring everyone's shudders and shrieks as she says the name,

"Don't say that!" Lee says mopping up his spilled Pumpkin juice.

Halfway along the train journey, the train thunders to a stop.

"Where are we? We can't possibly be at Hogsmeade yet?" Fred says looking out the window, interrupting the flow of conversation of Quidditch and the world cup being held next year.

"Maybe we've broken down." Angelina asks worriedly,

"We'll soon be going again though. It's nothing to worry about." Elsie says distracted by her reading, only putting her book away when the lights go out.

"See, it must be the power." Katie says, but soon there breath is rising in the air, and the window is coated with a layer of ice.

"Why has it gotten so cold?" Alicia says shivering,

"I know the weather has gotten lousy ever since Percy became head boy but this is getting weird." George jokes,

"Yeah, for a while we thought that the universe was mourning the day fun died." Fred adds and Elsie rolls her eyes as she rubs her hands together trying to get warm. The compartment door opens and Malfoy stumbles in looking terrified.

"What's- what's happening?" he demands,

"Get out you prat!" George spits at him and he hurries back out again. Out of nowhere, a floating black cloaked skeletal creature, it's face obscured by a hood opens the compartment door. Katie, Angelina and Alicia gasp and cower as close to the other side of the space as possible. Elsie takes out her wand at a loss of what to do, she feels sick and sad, like all the happiness has been drained out of the world, but suddenly her head becomes dizzy, and her eye lids start to droop but then it retreats just before Elsie can pass out.

"Els!" George says catching her before she can fall out of her chair. She shakes her head as if to clear it and then says calmly,

"What was that?"

"A dementor, dad told us about them ages ago."

"They guard Azkaban, dad went their once and came back all shaky." Fred joins in. Once they take their seats in the great hall, it becomes clear why there were Dementors on the train.

"Finally, on a more disquieting note at the request of the Ministry of magic Hogwarts will, until further notice, play host to the Dementors of Azkaban until such time as Sirius Black is captured." Dumbledore says gravelly during his speech, and he has the whole hall hanging on his every word, "The Dementors will be stationed at every entrance to the grounds." He says and Elsie turns to Fred and George,

"Good, because then there is no way you can sneak out of the castle!"

"I wouldn't be so sure. I know for a fact that Filch only knows of some of the passageways and not all." George replies under his breath,

"Now whilst I've been assured that their presence will not disrupt our day-to- day activities a word of caution. Dementors are vicious creatures. They'll not distinguish between the one they hunt and the one who gets in their way." Dumbledore warns, "Therefore I must warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you." He continues as Elsie casts an anxious glance at the twins. They're so irresponsible they would probably think it great fun to try and annoy the Dementors, "It is not in the nature of a dementor to be forgiving. But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when only one remembers to switch on the light." Dumbledore finishes sitting back down and the feast begins.

"You won't try and wind up the Dementors will you?" Elsie pleads with the twins as they head up to the fat lady, hearing her wailing from down the corridor.

"Why are you so concerned? So you can put us in detention?" Fred says smirking,

"No! I just don't want you both to get hurt or whatever it is they do to people." Elsie says indignantly,

"Dad says Dementors such out people's souls." George explains,

"Well that then! I don't want you both to get your souls sucked out!"

"What makes you think we have a soul, we're the devil twins remember." Fred teases and she sticks her nose in the air and marches off to her dormitory huffily.

"She's almost as bad as Percy sometimes." He adds as he and George watch her go.

The next morning they are handed their timetables from Professor McGonagall and George takes Harry, Ron and Hermione's for them and they appear at the table a short while later.

"Third year timetables." He says handing them to them, "What's up with you Harry?" he asks and Elsie notices how angry and upset he looks.

"Malfoy." Ron says for him and they all look over at the Slytherin table as the pale haired boy pretends to faint, much to the Slytherin's amusement.

"That little git. He wasn't so cocky last night when the Dementors were down our end of the train. Came running into our compartment. Didn't he Fred?" George asks his brother calmly,

"Nearly wet himself." Fred adds and Elsie tries to hide her laughter and they head to care of magical creatures.

"I have to say, I am glad we have Hagrid as our teacher now. I'm sure he will have some fascinating creatures we can learn about." Elsie says as they trundle down the hill towards his hut in the grounds, the weather still muggy and damp.

"Not to mention dangerous." George says excitedly.

"Professor Lupin looks like a good teacher too." Elsie says thoughtfully and that afternoon after they have their first lesson with him she gleefully skips out of the classroom,

"I was right, that was the best lesson I've ever had." She tells Cedric as they head to the great hall for dinner together.

In the common room later that evening, Fred and George sit beside Elsie as she finishes her essay for Professor Lupin.

"Bloody hell, when are you finishing the novel?" Fred asks as he takes in the amount of parchment she has used to write it on.

"I want it to include all the information I've found in the books. It's really quite condensed."

"If that's condensed then I'm Auntie Muriel. Guess what we've been doing?" George asks her,

"Teasing Percy about his girlfriend Penelope? I overheard." She replies disdainfully,

"You have really good hearing then." He replies as she bundles up her sheets of parchment.

"I'll take that as a compliment. By the way, if you don't stop being mean then he could get you into serious trouble you know."

"Yeah, yeah, by the way can we copy your introduction for the charms essay for Flitwick, we've done the rest of it?" Fred asks her and she scrutinises him,

"You can't copy me but I'll do it for you, but this is the last time!" she calls after them as they hurry away towards Lee, Angelina and Alicia.

One morning Seamus Finnigan comes running towards the Gryffindor table with the Daily Prophet in his hands crying,

"He's been sighted! He's been sighted!"

"Who?" Ron cries as he, Hermione and Harry hurry over to where Seamus lays the paper on the table, directly in front of Fred, George and Elsie.

"Sirius Black!" Seamus replies,

"Dufftown? That's not far from here!" Hermione shrieks examining the article,

"You don't think he'd come to Hogwarts, do you?" Neville stutters terrified,

"With Dementors at every entrance?" another boy asks sceptically,

"Dementors, he's already slipped past them once hasn't he? Who's to say he won't do it again?" Seamus asks fiercely,

"That's right. Black could be anywhere. It's like trying to catch smoke. Like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands." Another solemn Gryffindor says and Elsie exchanges looks with Fred and George before Cedric taps her on the shoulder and she turns to face him,

"Cedric!"

"Do you want to head to ancient runes?" he asks her and she nods,

"Yes, of course. See you later." She tells her friends, waving to them before walking with Cedric to their next class.

Elsie soon realises just how complex her classes begin to get over the next few weeks, many people become nervous and agitated whenever the teachers talk of their exams, especially Patricia Stimpson who has always had a rather nervous disposition. Once or twice Elsie would catch her with tears of fury in her eyes if she couldn't manage a certain spell the others mastered before her, and she frequently dropped objects in class. Elsie's favourite subject had suddenly become DADA and Professor Lupin was impressed by her knowledge on how to defeat dark creatures such as Red Caps and Hinkypunks.

"I have graded your homework as if it were an examination, well done to Miss MacDonald for being the only one to receive an Outstanding, ten points to Gryffindor!" he says kindly to her one lesson, much to the annoyance of the Slytherin's.

"Oi, Smellsie, the only reason Lupin likes you is because you both look like freaks!" Pucey shouts at her across the corridor and Elsie has to pull Fred and George along so they don't go back and hex him.

One day during a lesson with Professor Lupin, they have to tackle a Boggart which hides in a wardrobe.

"Now can anyone tell me what a Boggart is?" Lupin asks the class as they stand in front of it and Elsie raises her hand excitedly,

"Yes Miss MacDonald."

"Boggart's are shape shifters. They take the form of what the person fears the most. They can be found in cupboards and wardrobes as they like dark places." She says reciting from her textbook off by heart,

"Well done, five points to Gryffindor. Yes, you are very correct. But there is a spell and method in which one can eradicate them. The charm is Riddikulus." He says and the class chant it back to him,

"Very good, now, what you must also do to finish off a Boggart is to make it funny. You must imagine how to change the thing you fear the most into something amusing. Now form a line and we shall begin." Lupin orders and the first person in the long line is Angelina. A troll appears before them thundering about, Angelina draws out her wand and cries,

"Riddikulus!" and suddenly the Trolls head has disappeared and he walks around, bumping into things as Angelina heads to the back of the line. Next, it's Alicia and Elsie watches as a Shark starts to prance about like a Dolphin, Cedric gets rid of a Banshee's voice and then Elsie steps forward, not really knowing what to do. Ever since Elsie can remember she has never really been afraid of anything. She remembers when she first met Mrs Weasley and she snapped at her when she asked if she was scared. She didn't like it when people thought she was afraid and took pity on her, she didn't know why it was, it was just a peculiar trait.

The Boggart deliberates for a while, before seeming to disappear and the class look around confused as Elsie looks around mystified. Her eyes then settle on a book lying on the floor in front of the wardrobe and she slowly and tentatively walks towards it as the whole class remains silent, even the Slytherin's daren't make a sound. When she reaches it, Elsie crouches down and slowly opens the book, before falling backwards into a heap on the floor. The book hovers in mid air above her, showing the images on each page rapidly, and as the pages turn over they float about the classroom as Elsie raises her wand and cries,

"Riddikulus!" and it disappears as Professor Lupin stores it back in the wardrobe and Elsie remains sitting on the floor, her eyes glazed in fear and horror.

"Els!" Fred says as he and George push past their classmates and help her to her feet, before sitting her down in an empty chair at the back of the room as Lupin summons the Boggart again and the rest of the class have turns.

"Are you alright? What was that?" George asks her concerned and she shakes her head slightly.

"Come on, you can tell us. We're friends right?" Fred asks soothingly and she looks into his eyes for a while before swallowing hard and saying,

"M-my dad told me h-how my mother died. She was murdered. And even though she w-wasn't killed by a wizard but by an ordinary muggle… it doesn't m-make it anymore tragic." She says wiping her watery eyes to stop herself from crying. She has never cried before and she's not going to start.

"But what was that book?" George asks confused but saddened,

"The- he kept pictures. They were used as e-evidence in the trial." She finishes biting her quavering lip and the twins both let out horrified gasps,

"Elsie… I… we're so sorry." Fred says and he wraps one arm around her as she rests her head on his shoulder.

At the end of the lesson, Professor Lupin calls Elsie back,

"I am sorry you were so affected by the Boggart, if I had known then I would have made sure you didn't participate." He tells her and she looks down at her feet, angry that he's making her out to be a weakling,

"It doesn't matter, it's just a Boggart." She says coldly and Lupin sighs,

"You think I believe you to be weak?" he asks her and she nods stiffly, "I do not think that at all, I just feel guilty at making you relive something so traumatic. I would feel the same if it was any other student too. I admire how brave you were to still get rid of it despite being so upset." He says and she looks up at him slightly,

"Thank you sir."

"I am sure you will pass your defence against the dark arts O.W.L with brilliant results, now hurry along before your friends finish all the food." He says smiling warmly and she turns and heads to the great hall.


	16. Dark Times

Dark Times

The Slytherin's taunts over the next few days are unbearable for Elsie. It transpires that almost everyone has heard of her strange Boggart, and everyone apart from Fred and George don't know what it really is. They all just think she is afraid of books.

"Off to the library freak? Don't get a paper cut!" Warrington shouts and in Charms one day when Maria hands out the school books to everyone she sneers at Elsie and says,

"Do you want me to make sure it doesn't bite for you?"

"Shut your face Hawking, or I'll shut it for you!" George says pointing his wand at her,

"George don't, leave it." Elsie says lowering his hand.

"You shouldn't let them treat you like that!" Fred says to her as they practice their silencing charms.

"I don't care, they're complete rotters the lot of them! I just want to concentrate on me O.W.L's." she says waving her wand and her raven opens and closes it's beak, but no noise escapes it.

One weekend after having been in Hogsmeade with the twins, after dinner they head up to the fat lady's portrait, finding a large crowd waiting outside and Percy is bellowing orders.

"What's going on?" Elsie asks them,

"Probably the fat lady is caterwauling again." Fred replies trying to see over the mass of heads, which is easier for the twins because of their height than for Elsie, who jumps up and down on the spot to get a better look.

"Let me through please! Excuse me I'm head boy!" Percy says pushing through the crowd and Fred and George exchange looks and mutter something to each other that Elsie misses. "Get back, all of you!" he says suddenly becoming much less pompous and sounding rather nervous, "No one is to enter the dormitory until it has been fully searched." He orders,

"The fat lady's gone!" Lee tells the three of them, appearing from the front of the crowd,

"What?" they say together stunned and the crowd separates and they get a clear view of the portrait. There are large savage slashes to the canvas and Elsie pulls the twins out of the way,

"Keep calm everyone. Break into fours. Back to your common room." Percy orders to the non-Gryffindor's. Dumbledore sweeps past them and inspects the damage before announcing,

"Mr Filch? Round up the ghosts. Tell them to search every painting in the castle to find the fat lady." He says but Filch points above their heads,

"There's no need for ghosts, professor. The fat lady's there." He says and everyone hurries up the stairs, pushing past an infuriated Percy in the process until they find the painting Filch was pointing to.

"Dear lady, who did this to you?" Dumbledore asks the lady who cowers behind a Hippo in the painting.

"Eye's like the devil's he's got, and a soul as dark as his name. It's him headmaster. The one they all talk about. He's here, somewhere in the castle! Sirius Black!" she says before hiding behind the animal once more.

The crowd exclaims in horror and Elsie grabs hold of the twins' arms in horror.

'How did he get into the castle with the Dementors surrounding the entrances?' she thinks worriedly,

"Secure the castle, Mr Filch. The rest of you, to the great hall!" Dumbledore orders. Soon the Gryffindor's are joined by the other houses, and Fred and George go to recount the tale to their many friends. Percy eventually gets everyone to settle down and Elsie grabs herself a sleeping bag conjured up by Dumbledore when he came down to check on everyone and she finds a quiet spot and lies down. She doesn't expect Fred and George to appear at all, but when they lay their sleeping bags beside her and lie down she looks at them confused.

"What are you looking at us like that for?" George asks,

"Why aren't you going to sleep with Lee and Angelina and the others?" she asks them. The twins were popular throughout the school, so choosing to sleep beside someone as uncool and insignificant as herself came as a surprise.

"We want to keep an eye out for you…" George begins,

"…Especially with Black walking round the castle." Fred adds,

"Thanks. But you don't need to. You've got a chance to chat with all your friends."

"You're our best friend though." Fred says grinning at her from his sleeping bag,

"Really?"

"Really. So, come on. You're the clever one out of this trio, how do you think he got in?" he asks playfully,

"I don't know… it's awful to think that even the Dementors can't stop him." she says sadly and the twins sigh,

"It's a shame that he couldn't have bunked off Perce." George says and Elsie smacks his arm angrily at thinking such a thing, and soon the three of them are laughing about it.

Elsie wakes up the next morning with Fred's hand in hers, and she removes it hastily, feeling her face glowing red. She rolls the sleeping bag up and heads up to the common room and finishes the last piece of homework she was assigned for Monday as Angelina and Alicia enter. Angelina looks at Elsie and hurries up to the dormitory and Elsie gives Alicia a quizzical look,

"Why does she have a problem with me all of a sudden?" she asks and Alicia sighs,

"Alright, you can't tell anyone I told you this, especially not her." She says looking over her shoulder as she draws near her, "Angelina fancies Fred alright?" she asks and Elsie's stomach begins to boil with rage, which she finds peculiar.

"Why does that mean she hates me?"

"Because you like him too." Alicia says and Elsie laughs,

"No, no, no, no! Fred and I are just friends."

"Really?" Alicia asks sceptically,

"Yes." Elsie says although jealously bubbles inside of her.

"Oh, ok." Alicia says getting up and following after Angelina. Elsie closes her book and orders her homework thoughtfully.

'You're only jealous because Fred is your best friend. That's the only reason.' She tells herself forcefully, before heading downstairs for breakfast.

On the way downstairs Elsie bumps into Hagrid,

"Hullo Hagrid!" she says cheerfully,

"Hullo Elsie. How are yer?"

"I'm fine thanks, yourself?"

"Alrigh'." He says although he looks miserable,

"What's wrong Hagrid?"

"Oh, I'm havin' to go to a hearin' at the Ministry. Did you hear about Buckbeak?" he asks her and she nods sadly,

"He's an incredible creature. It's Malfoy's fault!" she exclaims and he smiles at her,

"Thanks, but fingers crossed that all goes well and he get's off." He says before walking away. Elsie sits down at the replaced table in the great hall and Hermione hurries up to her,

"You havent seen Hagrid have you? I've found some notes on Hippogriff trails." She says breathlessly,

"Yes, he was just talking to me in the entrance hall." Elsie says as Ron and Harry pass Hermione without acknowledging her, "What's wrong with you three?" she asks,

"Ronald thinks my cat has eaten his rat." Hermione states,

"Did your cat eat his rat?"

"No! But he will not believe me! He doesn't take care of Scabbers properly anyway. I'll see you later." Hermione says before hurrying out of the hall. Elsie joins her friends at the table and Angelina smiles warmly at her as she sits down and she returns it, although a small part of her really wants to jinx her…

True to her word, Elsie does not tell Fred about Angelina's feelings for him. Secretly she hopes he'll never find it, and she continues to tell herself that she is only feeling this way because they are friends. On a stormy day Gryffindor play Hufflepuff at Quidditch, and Elsie stands with her housemates in the pouring rain. The conditions are terrible, and she watches out for her friends when suddenly, Harry is seen falling from the sky, his broom nowhere to be seen and Dementors circling about above him.

"Harry!" Hermione cries, clutching her mouth in horror. Dumbledore stops him from hitting the ground and soon the match stops, Cedric apparently has caught the snitch, but Elsie doesn't really notice as she hurries down the stands and onto the pitch with the others. Dumbledore conjures up a stretcher and immediately hurries to the hospital wing with him but Elsie waits outside the Quidditch changing rooms for Fred and George who exit with the rest of the team, still in their Quidditch kit. As soon as she sees them she hugs them both before hurrying along to the castle beside them,

"What happened to Harry?" she asks the pair above the wind,

"Dementors we think." Fred says quickly,

"But they shouldn't even be on the grounds." Elsie exclaims shocked, "Dumbledore must be furious!" she adds as they enter the castle,

"We're going to go and see Harry, we'll see you later." George says as the Quidditch team hurries up the stairs.

Harry turns out to be fine, which everyone is thankful for. Well, everyone except the Slytherin's. Fred and George refuse to speak to Cedric as they believe he should have helped Harry and not caught the snitch.

"But Oliver says they won it fair and square." Elsie says disapprovingly,

"But it wasn't fair was it?"

"Our seeker was falling about 100 feet!" and whenever they saw Elsie in the corridors with Cedric they refused to speak to her for hours afterwards. Elsie didn't blame Cedric though, he caught the snitch not realising Harry fell, and he tried to get them to replay again at a later date but Wood refused. In Elsie's eyes Cedric was acting like the bigger man, but Fred and George were acting ridiculous.

"For heavens sake!" she exclaims annoyed over lunch as they completely ignore her for the second day in a row, "You both are acting like spoilt, sulky two year olds! It's not Cedric's fault the Dementors were on the grounds! He tried to do to honourable thing and play again but Wood refused. You should be angry at Wood not Cedric!" she demands,

"That's right stick up for your boyfriend Cedric." Fred sneers at her and she jumps to her feet,

"You are intolerable!" she shouts striding away to her next class.

That Christmas the twins appear to have gotten over their annoyance at Cedric and begin to speak to Elsie again.

"Hey, do you know where perfect Percy is?" Fred asks her one day and she shakes her head,

"Why don't you use the marauder's map?"

"We gave it to Harry, we've got it memorized now anyway." George says,

"I havent seen Percy, now go away I'm trying to revise." She snaps but instead of leaving her alone they sit beside her,

"We're sorry about the whole Cedric thing." Fred says sincerely,

"Whatever, I still havent forgiven you." She says although she smiles slightly,

"Come outside and play in the snow, you can revise later." George says taking her books from her and she protests as they drag her outside.

Another few weeks go by and after Christmas everyone begins to start worrying about their O.W.L's… well everyone except Fred and George.

"You should really start revising, we've only got a few months left and you havent even begun to look over anything!" Elsie expresses loudly over dinner and Fred and George signal her not to but Percy turns around and says,

"You havent begun revising?! How will you be prepared for your exams? They show what you can do once you leave school…" he begins before going into a long winded speech and the twins shoot Elsie annoyed glances as she hangs on Percy's every word. The days leading up to their examinations brings on a strange wave of nervousness. Elsie carries most of her books around with her everywhere and brings them out quickly before stowing them back away after looking up something she hasn't memorized yet.

"Would you stop doing that?" George asks impatiently as he hits her again with her book by accident,

"Just because you don't want to pass your O.W.L's doesn't mean the rest of us do!" she says before heading to her career's meeting with Professor McGonagall. She tells her that she would like to be an Auror and her head of house replies,

"Yes, that requires training even after school and exception grades. Your grades however are exceedingly well and I havent got any worries about you achieving outstanding in most of your O.W.L's."

"Thanks Professor." She says astounded before hurrying from the room.

When she reaches the common room however Kenneth Towler is standing in his pyjamas almost in tears, his whole face, arms, hands and feet covered in boils. Everyone appears to be laughing loudly but Percy is nowhere to be seen.

"What's going on?" she asks Kenneth kindly,

"Someone's put Bulbadox powder into my pyjamas." He says sadly,

"Right, you go to the hospital wing and I'll sort this out." Elsie says turning to face her other Gryffindor's, feeling her prefect powers reigniting inside of her.

"Who did this?" she demands the common room and she catches Fred and George laughing to each other, "It was you too wasn't it?" she asks them quickly,

"No, maybe… how did you know?" George asks as the common room laughs again,

"I knew it! How could you? I will go and speak to Dumbledore about this right now." She says unbelievingly.

"You wouldn't." Fred says as Angelina laughs,

"Oh yes I will and I am going right now!" she says turning and striding out of the common room. Dumbledore, it turns out, isnt in his study, she Elsie goes to Professor McGonagall's room instead.

"What is it MacDonald?" she asks her quizzically,

"I'm sorry to disturb you Professor but Fred and George put Bulbadox powder in Kenneth's pyjamas. He's gone to the hospital wing but because of how serious it is I didn't know how to go about punishing them." She says and McGonagall's lips turn almost non existent and they head to the Gryffindor common room. When they enter the whole room turns silent and Fred and George stare at Elsie as if she just punched them in the face.

"Fred and George Weasley come with me at once!" McGonagall barks and Elsie looks sternly on as they pass her and follow McGonagall out of the common room. The rest of the students there all give Elsie the filthiest looks possible and Elsie goes to bed early. For weeks afterwards nobody utters a word to Elsie apart from Hermione, Ginny and Cedric.

"I know exactly how you feel. The amount of times Harry and Ron have refused to speak to me, I suppose I'm an expert." Hermione says at breakfast one day as Elsie sits with her and Ginny,

"It'll be ok Elsie. They're just sad you told on them." Ginny says comfortingly,

"What was I supposed to do I'm a prefect." She replies glumly,

"You did the right thing, they shouldn't have put Bulbadox powder into Kenneth's clothes anyway!" Hermione says and Elsie forces a weak smile at them both. Cedric wasn't as comforting as the others, but he still spoke to her,

"They are meant to be your friends, I don't think you should have told on them… but what they did was rather mean." He adds as she gives him a steely expression.


	17. Exams and Werewolves

Exams and Werewolves

Soon their exams are upon them, and Fred and George still aren't talking to Elsie so she spends most of her time with Moaning Myrtle in the girls' bathroom.

"Myrtle, do you think it was wrong of me to turn them in?" she asks the ghost as she sits morosely in the cubicle,

"No." she snaps.

"Okay." And then after another long pause she looks up from her notes again, "Myrtle, I'm sorry I never asked you about how you died before."

"That's alright." This was the basis of their friendship. Elsie would talk to her and Myrtle would reply with one sentence. It wasn't much but nobody came in or out of the bathroom as everyone was frightened or weary of Myrtle so Elsie was quite alone. Also, Myrtle didn't judge Elsie like anyone else did. On the way to their first exam in the great hall, Elsie notices Fred and George having an argument with Pucey, Warrington and some other Slytherin's.

"If you don't give it back I'll hex you!" Fred says and Elsie realises Pucey is levitating a parcel above their heads.

"Give it back to them now!" Angelina cries as Elsie draws out her wand, only just remembering what day it was. It wasn't just the day of their first exam, it was also the 1st of April, the twins' birthdays.

"Accio present!" Elsie says quietly and the parcel flies above all of their heads and she grabs the large box in her hands as everyone turns to look at her.

"Ten points from Slytherin for stealing." Is all she says and the Gryffindor's, Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's all whoop and cheer in glee as the Slytherin's turn their backs on them angrily.

"Mudblood!" she hears one of them shout but she ignores it as the twins walk over to her, looking sheepish.

"Happy birthday." She says handing them the present and they smile at her,

"Thanks." They say together, before they look at her cautiously, "Friends?" George asks her and she beams, hugging them both tightly.

Two weeks later, and after several long days sitting practical and theory exams before returning to the common room and revising for their next one, the fifth years all finish their exams.

"Well, now we can kick back and relax." Fred says,

"Why?" Elsie asks them,

"Duh, because we don't get our results until during the holidays." George replies and she gasps,

"In what universe does that mean we can relax? I'm going to go round the bend during the holidays now!" she says anxiously.

Soon everyone is speaking to her again, and word spreads around the school of how she humiliated the Slytherin's, which makes her much more vulnerable to their taunts.

"How's it going Smellsie?" Hawking shouts at her one day,

"Shut your mouth, Hawking!" Angelina says defensively as they walk to charms class together and Elsie smiles at her thankfully.

"I heard your parents are freaks just like you!" Looper calls to her across the great hall,

"Are you sure you weren't talking about your parents?" Alicia replies coolly, and one day Angelina hurries over to Elsie looking excited,

"Elsie, my parents managed to get tickets for the Quidditch world cup during the summer, Alicia's coming too. We have one spare though, do you want to come too?" she asks and Elsie beams at her,

"Thanks Angelina, I'll write to my father right now!" she says hurrying away to the owlery. Everything would have been marvellous for Elsie, except that, one Saturday when Professor Snape slipped out that Professor Lupin, Elsie's favourite teacher, was a Werewolf.

"I don't believe it!" Angelina says over lunch and they look up at the staff table and find Professor Lupin gone.

"Apparently he's resigned."

"I thought he'd been sacked."

"Dumbledore knew beforehand." Her friends discuss as Elsie bites her lip shamefully,

"What's wrong Els?" George asks her and she looks up at them nervously,

"Oh, no reason." She stammers sadly. After lunch she hurries to Professor Lupins' room and knocks on the door.

"Ah, Miss MacDonald, what can I do for you?" he asks opening the door and allowing her inside.

"I heard the news…" she says watching as he packs. He looks even shabbier than normal, with cuts and bruises on his face.

"Ah, yes… I believe it safe to say that the whole school heard the news." He says and she sighs,

"Dumbledore knew though, he knew he could trust you. It was Snape that let it out. You shouldn't have to leave just because of your condition! It's just prejudice isnt it? Despite everything, you're still the best teacher we've had!" she exclaims and he smiles at her fondly,

"Thank you for that Elsie. Yes, I suppose it is mostly prejudice. But if I were a parent I wouldn't want a werewolf teaching my children."

"But you're harmless." Elsie mumbles disappointedly, and Lupin laughs,

"Well, no one has been hurt because of me, I'll give you that. I'm sure you will do well in the rest of your education Elsie. I am glad to have been your teacher." He says dismissing her and she nods,

"Goodbye sir." She says holding out her hand and looking at her disbelievingly he shakes it,

"Not many people knowing my condition would shake hands with me willingly." He says and he smiles weakly,

"Not many people are non-judgemental." She says turning and leaving his office.

It turns out that Harry, Ron and Hermione were present when Professor Lupin transformed, and even though the twins thought it beyond cool, Elsie was much more disapproving,

"Seriously Fred, they were lucky they weren't killed! One day they will probably get themselves killed from all the danger they put themselves in."

"I'm not Fred, I'm George." He says and Elsie looks at him disbelievingly,

"Don't be ridiculous I never get you mixed up." she barks,

"That's a point actually." Fred says sitting down beside her, "You don't miss a trick do you?"

"Not when it comes down to you two. I'm sad Lupin's going, it means another new DADA teacher." Elsie says,

"I hope the next one turns out to be a vampire or something. That would be wicked." George says slumping into the seat beside her.

"Are you going to the Quidditch world cup?" she asks them and they shrug dejectedly,

"I doubt dad will be able to aff- I mean, get the tickets." Fred says turning red.

"Oh well, I wonder who will be playing." She thinks aloud and the twins begin to discuss who will reach the final.

"And Black escaped again." Elsie interrupts and the twins look at her confused,

"What?"

"Didn't you hear? Snape caught Black in the grounds, they were going to perform the Dementors kiss on him but he got away again." She says and they exchange looks,

"How come we didn't hear this earlier?"

"I thought you knew? I thought everyone knew." She says thoughtfully, "Maybe I'm the only one that heard Snape speaking about it to the Slytherin's." She finishes dreamily. Soon however everyone hears about it and Elsie bumps into Hagrid on the way to the library.

"Elsie! Guess wha'?" he asks her,

"What?" she replies curiously,

"Buckbeak managed to get free! He escaped last night before they could execute him!"

"How wonderful!" Elsie says grinning,

"Yeah, it was a miracle! He musta known what was happening. I always knew he was clever." Hagrid says and Elsie smiles at him, "So, how did yer exam go?"

"I think it went very well actually, although not as well as my others. I got confused with the Fire crabs question."

"Oh yeah, tha was a hard one it was." He says before patting her on the back, "I'm sure yer did very well. Now, I'll be seeing you next year." He says and Elsie smiles up at him,

"Bye Hagrid." She waves,

"Bye!" he replies wandering off.

They get on the Hogwarts express after Gryffindor wins the house cup once again for three years in a row, mainly due to the excellent performance of the Quidditch team and the twins talk with Elsie about their joke shop ideas until Lee, Angelina and the others enter. Once they reach Kings Cross station, the twins help Elsie with her trunk as she looks around for her dad.

"We'll see you over the summer, Elsie!" Angelina calls to her,

"Bye Elsie!" Alicia says as they walk away together to go and find their parents. Elsie follows Fred and George to Mr and Mrs Weasley who are talking with Mr MacDonald.

"Hello father." Elsie says,

"Did you have a nice year?" he asks her and she nods, smiling stiffly.

"Bye Els!" Fred calls,

"Bye!" she replies before following her father back into the muggle world.


	18. The Quidditch World Cup

The Quidditch World Cup

Elsie wakes up staring at the canvas tent above her head. Angelina and Alicia are getting changed excitedly,

"Come on, we need to fetch some water for the kettle." Angelina says as Elsie swings off the bunk bed. Elsie was transfixed when she entered the tent for the first time with her friends, but she was soon telling them,

"But of course it must be an undetectable extension charm." Although they weren't really listening to her.

"Why can't your dad use magic to fill the kettle?" Alicia asks her best friend,

"Dad says that we shouldn't really be using magic this close to muggles." She replies as Elsie pulls a jumper on over her head.

"You ready? Good, let's go!" Angelina says picking up a bucket and they follow the map towards the tap, waiting in a line for a long time whilst discussing the upcoming match, Ireland versus Bulgaria.

"I think Krum will be playing." Alicia says excitedly and they both giggle,

"Who's Krum?" Elsie asks,

"Only the best seeker in the world!" her friend exclaims and once they got their water they head back to the tent, bumping into Oliver Wood, Cho Change and then Fred and George.

"Fred, George!" Elsie exclaims hugging them both tightly, "It's so good to see you!" she says releasing them,

"It's great to see you too." They say before greeting Angelina and Alicia.

"What stand are you in?" George asks them all as he and his twin take in Elsie. It is true that she has changed quite dramatically over the summer. Her hair is much longer and reaches halfway down her back and although she has multicoloured fingernails and many bracelets up both her arms, her clothes themselves aren't as bright and unusual as before.

"Err, I don't know. It says on the ticket." Angelina replies and the twins turn to face her instead,

"We're in the top box." Fred says proudly and Angelina and Alicia exclaim in jealousy,

"And we've put all our savings on Ireland winning but Krum getting the snitch." George adds,

"That's ridiculous, that's never going to happen!" Alicia scoffs,

"I can't believe you've been betting! You're not of age yet!" Elsie exclaims shocked and her friends all roll their eyes,

"We'll see you later!"

"See you later!" they call to one another before continuing but Elsie gets stopped by Cedric Diggory.

"Cedric!" she says beaming at him,

"I didn't know you were coming, Elsie!" he says smiling at her as Angelina and Alicia admire him. It is true that over the years Cedric has grown much taller, and much more handsome than the stuttering little boy Elsie first befriended.

"Well, Angelina had a spare ticket." She says looking at her friends and he smiles at them and they grin at each other in glee.

"Who are you wanting to win?" Cedric asks her and she sighs,

"I'm not too sure, I'm just here for the atmosphere. It was a shame Scotland got knocked out so early." She says,

"Well, I'll see you later I expect." Cedric says,

"Bye Cedric!" she calls over her shoulder to him.

The match itself is brilliant, and sure enough, Ireland win but Krum gets the snitch and Elsie is very amused by the Veela and the Leprechauns fighting. Her, Angelina, Alicia and her parents return to the tent but later on that night Elsie wakes to screaming.

"It's the death eaters!" a running passer by shouts and Elsie looks up in horror as she sees the muggle camp site manager and his parents hovering in mid air, beneath hooded, cloaked figures in masks.

"Girls, get to the woods. We need to help sort this out!" Angelina's father orders. Mr and Mrs Johnson both work at the ministry so they join their other colleagues as they try and help the muggles.

"Come on!" Angelina shouts to Elsie as they sprint towards the woods together, trying not to get separated in the crowd. When they reach the woods they relax a bit and soon stop, wondering what to do next. Elsie has read about death eaters before, but she never thought she would see them.

"I can't believe death eaters are here!" Alicia wails,

"Why are they here? You don't think you know who…" Elsie asks,

"No, otherwise we would have heard about it. They're probably just having a laugh, hurting those poor muggles." Angelina comforts. Suddenly something emerges into the sky formed from the clouds above their heads.

"Oh no!" Angelina shouts,

"What is it?" Elsie asks staring as a skull appears, a snake appearing from its mouth.

"It's the dark mark! It's set above somewhere when a person gets killed by you know who or his death eaters." Alicia says tears springing from her eyes.

Several hours later and Angelina's' parents appear and they quickly pack up the tent and take Elsie back home.

"Thanks for taking me Mr and Mrs Johnson." She says politely as they look frantic with worry,

"No problem, Elsie." They say before disappearing quickly before Elsie can say goodbye to Alicia and Angelina.

"Why are you back so early?" Elsie's father asks, appearing in his dressing gown at the top of the stairs. Elsie opens her mouth but shuts it again.

"Nothing dad." She lies before heading to her room and getting some sleep. When she wakes up she sends a letter with Margot to Fred and George, making sure they got home alright. Their reply calms her down slightly.

'Dear Elsie,

Dad and mum are really worried. They havent seen death eaters or the dark mark in fourteen years! They won't say anything though, but we heard them talking about it this morning. We're so tired, but we won our bet! We're going to get inventing with our winnings! Dad says not to worry, they're probably old death eaters that got drunk celebrating, he doesn't think it means anything. We'll see you on the Hogwarts express.

From Fred and George'

Elsie feeds Margot some owl nuts before opening the window again and letting her owl fly freely, wondering whether Mr Weasley was right, and it really was nothing to be scared of.

On September the 1st, as usual, Elsie patrols the Hogwarts express before finding our friends and joining them.

"Prefect things?" Lee asks as she sits down and she smiles at him,

"Yes." But then she notices how annoyed Fred and George look and she glances at them curiously and they shake their heads as if to say 'we'll tell you later'.

"So, how many O.W.L's did you get?" she asks her friends and Fred and George grin at her,

"Only a few." They say together and Elsie shakes her head at them both,

"Don't go on about it like our mother did." Fred snaps at her,

"I told you that you should revise, but did you listen?"

"We don't need any O.W.L's though. We've been developing things all summer, we're going to start selling some of our products at school."

"You will not! They may not be safe!" Elsie exclaims horrified,

"We've tested them all out on ourselves." George says,

"And Harry's cousin." Fred says slyly before recounting a tale of how they basically blew up Harry's aunt and uncle's fireplace, before tricking his cousin who is a brute into eating one of their joke sweets.

"And then," Fred says wiping away a tear of laughter, "Dad says his tongue grew to about four feet before they would let him shrink it." And while everyone else laughs uncontrollably Elsie slams her book down with a thud,

"That was awful Fred! How could you? It's basically muggle baiting, you should be ashamed!"

"We weren't doing it because he's a muggle!" he shoots back,

"We were doing it because he's horrible to Harry."

"Be that as it may, you still shouldn't have done it." She snaps back at them and they sit in silence for a while before Fred asks, sounding apologetic,

"So, how many O.W.L's did you get?"

"I got Outstanding in Charms, Defence against the Dark arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, History of Magic, Ancient Runes, Potions and Astronomy and exceeds expectations in care of magical creatures and Arithmancy." She recites off by heart and Fred and George glance at each other significantly.

"Well done." Alicia says smiling.

When they reach Hogwarts, soon strange things occur. Firstly, they watch as a huge ship emerges from the depths of the black lake and secondly, they are escorted outside as they watch as a gigantic carriage pulled by elegant flying horses' lands, almost knocking over Hagrid.

"Wow, well there's something you don't see everyday!" George exclaims as they watch amused. That evening in the great hall appears ordinary, but beneath the surface, everyone is wondering why there are guests in the castle and, where are they?

"Now that we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement!" Dumbledore says, getting to his feet. But the grand doors open and they watch as a wheezing and red faced Mr Filch runs up to him as Dumbledore continues to speak,

"This castle will not only be your home this year, but home to some very special guests as well. You see, Hogwarts has been chosen..." he says tailing off as Filch whispers something to him. After a brief discussion, Filch then runs back out of the hall as Dumbledore regains his train of thought.

"So Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event: The Triwizard Tournament!" he announces and Fred and George exchange glances as the whole hall begins to mutter to each other excitedly. Elsie however is confused, she has never heard of it before.

"Brilliant." The twins whisper to each other as Elsie hangs on Dumbledore's every word,

"Now for those who do not know, The Triwizard tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. From each school, a single student is selected to compete. Now let me be clear. If chosen, you stand alone. And trust me when I say, these contests are not for the faint hearted. But more of that later. For now, please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of The Beauxbatons academy of magic and their headmistress, Madame Maxime." Dumbledore finishes and the doors open and beautiful girls wearing matching silk blue outfits come dancing and sighing up the room. Fred and George watch them in awe as Elsie looks on disgusted. Madame Maxime it turns out, as she walks along behind her students, is even taller than Hagrid.

"Golly." Elsie whispers staring at her as two young attractive blonde hair girls dance up to the front before bowing. There's a great deal of applause for them, although Elsie only claps her hands together several times. In her opinion, people prancing about like that are clearly very self absorbed, and she doesn't like the way Fred and George are staring at them.

Elsie sits close to Hermione and Ginny, and the three of them exchange dark looks as the applause dies down.

"And now our friends from the North! Please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and their high master, Igor Karkaroff." Dumbledore announces and the doors burst open again and many tall, muscled boys come thundering into the room. They bang their staffs on the floor in rhythm looking dark and mysterious and Elsie leans forward in her seat to get a better look. They do a sort of impressive break dance at the front before Ron announces,

"Blimey it's him! Viktor Krum!" and they all turn and watch as the famous seeker strides up to the front. During the round of applause for them, Elsie realises her mouth is hanging open, and she closes it before clapping enthusiastically along with everyone else, noticing that Fred and George are giving her disapproving looks for some reason. During the feast some official looking people bring a large casket into the hall as Fred and George discuss with Lee about entering into the tournament.

"I won't be. It's our N.E.W.T year. We'll need all the preparation we can get, especially if I want to become an Auror." Elsie says to them,

"We've already told you, we don't care about our grades, we're just here so we can invent and start experimenting a bit more." George says and she sighs and continues eating her minted peas.

"Your attention please. I'd like to say a few words." Professor Dumbledore says, nearing the strange and magnificent casket. "Eternal glory. That is what awaits the student that wins the Triwizard Tournament. But to do this, that student must survive three tasks. Three, extremely dangerous tasks." He says impressively,

"Wicked." The twins chorus as Elsie shoots them a worried look. Dangerous didn't sound very good to her when it included her two best friends.

"For this reason, the Ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this we have the head of the department of magical co-operation Mr Bartemius Crouch." Dumbledore says as a strict looking man enters and Fred and George whisper to Elsie,

"That's Percy's new boss, poor fellow." George whispers and she grins when suddenly the enchanted ceiling thunders and lightning appears in the sky and the students complain as a figure emerges from a door behind the staff table and shoots something up at the ceiling and it stops. Elsie stares at him appalled. The man has a magical eye revolving in his head, a chunk out of his nose and looks ragged and scarred. He limps, one leg made out of silver metal.

"Bloody hell- it's mad-eye Moody." Ron says and Elsie nods in realisation. She has read about many famous Aurors, but Alastor Moody is one of the most famous. Apparently he is meant to be mad now though, determined that everyone is trying to kill him from locking away so many death eaters and other bad people. Elsie watches as he takes a large gulp from a hip flask he keeps on his person and Elsie then realises what he's doing there.

"He's our new teacher." She whispers to the twins,

"Fantastic." They say as Barty Crouch steps forwards.

"After due consideration the Ministry has concluded that, for their own safety, no witch or wizard under the age of seventeen shall be allowed to put forth their name for the Triwizard Tournament. This decision if final." Elsie sighs in relief, as the hall erupts into protest, especially the twins who are not yet 17 either. Silently Elsie thanks Merlin they're not.

"That's rubbish! That's rubbish! You don't know what you're doing!" the twins shout booing Mr Crouch,

"Silence!" Dumbledore bellows and gradually everyone settles down. He then raises his wand and removes the casket, leaving a bare goblet standing in its place.

"The Goblet of fire. Anyone wishing to submit themselves in for the tournament need only write their name on a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly. If chosen, there's no turning back. As from this moment, the Triwizard tournament has begun." Dumbledore finishes and everyone heads for their common rooms muttering excitedly, the twins are furious and discuss darkly under their breathes and Elsie leaves them alone as she walks upstairs on her own.


	19. Mad Eye and the First Task

Mad Eye and The First Task

Fred, George and Elsie's first lesson with Mad Eye turns out to be terrifying but completely fascinating as well. Elsie goes to the library the day before and researches Mad-eye thoroughly, so the next morning she drags the twins with her to class ten minutes before so they get seats right at the front of the classroom. He enters and they soon realise that he can see out of the back of his head using his magical bright blue eye. He tells them all about the three Unforgivable curses and although Elsie disapproves of him teaching them the curses she cannot deny it's not interesting.

"Moody is…" Fred begins as they head down to lunch,

"Beyond cool."

"Super cool."

"Ultra cool." They chant,

"I have to say, even though he shouldn't be teaching us the unforgiveable curses yet, it is interesting to know them." Elsie says and the twins look at her with fake shock,

"Elsie! Are you saying you enjoyed a lesson that was against the Ministry's wishes?" George teases,

"Shut up." she says although she laughs at them, wrapping her arms around their shoulders as they enter the great hall.

For the rest of the week, Elsie battles through her mountain of homework and she feels sorry for the twins who have to do their homework that was being loaded on them, and also carrying out market research for their joke shop. On Thursday during lunch she sits with Hermione in the great hall and she watches as Cedric enters his name into the Goblet before smiling at her and then the twins come running into the hall cheering and the people in the hall whoop and applaud them,

"Well lads, we've done it!"

"Cooked it up just this morning!" they say and although Elsie knows full well that their small phials of ageing potion aren't going to get them past Dumbledore's age line, she remains silent, wanting to know what will happen to them when they fail.

"It's not going to work!" Hermione chants and they sit beside her,

"Oh yeah, and why's that Granger?" Fred asks her,

"You see this? This is an age line, Dumbledore drew it himself."

"So?" George asks unfazed,

"So, a genius like Dumbledore couldn't be possibly fooled by a dodge as pathetically dim witted as an ageing potion." She says huffily,

"But that's why it's so brilliant!" Fred says grinning,

"Because it's so pathetically dim witted." George says and they drink their potions before jumping over the age line, and when nothing happens they get applauded and celebrate. Elsie sits down beside Hermione and they exchange sceptical looks. They then throw their names into the blue flame and after a seconds pause, get knocked back, lying sprawled on the ground. Elsie peers through the crowd and sees them sitting up, glancing at each other, their hair long as well as their beards and both are grey.

"You said!"

"You said!" George replies as they begin to fight each other on the floor as everyone else applauds, laughing and giggling, chanting,

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Krum then enters and everyone becomes quiet as he strides up to the Goblet and enters his name.

"Come on Fred, George." Elsie says exasperated, getting them to their feet and leading them up to the hospital wing. After Madam Pomfrey removes their grey hair and beards, they walk down to the great hall together again, sitting at the Gryffindor table. Fred looks thoughtful for a minute before asking,

"Elsie, you're clever, why didn't you try and warn us about the age line?" and she grins mischievously but doesn't say anything,

"You knew that was going to happen, didn't you? You knew it wasn't going to work and you didn't warn us?" Fred asks amused,

"You're becoming even more like us..." George says proudly,

"It was pretty amusing." She admits starting to laugh, "You look so funny with beards." And they start to laugh too as Lee and Angelina sit down beside them,

"I've just put my name in." she asks,

"Ohhh well done Angelina! You should have seen the beards these two sprouted, they even humiliated themselves in front of Krum." Elsie says beginning to laugh again as Dumbledore gets to his feet.

"Now, the moment you've all been waiting for!" he announces before nearing the Goblet and pressing his hands onto it and suddenly a piece of parchment springs from the flame and he catches it, "The Beauxbatons champion, is Fleur Delacour." He says and a beautiful blonde haired girl gets to her feet and shakes hands with Dumbledore before heading off through a door to another chamber.

"The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!" Dumbledore calls as another piece of parchment falls into his hands. The room bursts into applause and then becomes silent once more as one last piece comes flying out,

"The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!" he announces and Elsie watches as her best friend gets to his feet grinning.

"Wooooo!" Elsie cries loudly, clapping harder than everyone as Fred and George exchange annoyed and slightly jealous looks.

"Excellent! We now have our three champions! But in the end only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory, the Triwizard cup!" Dumbledore announces as Barty Crouch reveals the amazing trophy. The Goblet of fire however is doing something very peculiar, and Dumbledore approaches it nervously before it shoots another piece of parchment out and Dumbledore reads it looking shocked before announcing,

"Harry Potter."

All the heads in the hall turn to face Harry who looks stunned with disbelief, shrinking into his seat.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore shouts again and Hermione pushes him out of his seat as every pair of eyes follow him as he wanders through the hall. Fred and George and Elsie exchange bewildered looks. Harry follows the other champions to the other chamber and the other students return to their house dormitories.

"I wonder how he did it?" Fred asks impressed,

"He can't have done." Elsie states plainly and her friends look at her,

"How do you know?"

"Because the Goblet of fire is an extremely powerful magical artefact. Only dark magic could have fooled it." She says and her friends look at each other before starting to laugh,

"If you say so Els. So Fred, who do you reckon will win?" George asks and they chat animatedly, not noticing that Elsie retires to her dormitory.

The next day in defence against the dark arts, Elsie sits in wait for Cedric who drops into the seat next to her looking ecstatic.

"Congratulations Cedric! I can't believe it Hogwarts champion!" she says beaming at he returns it,

"Thanks, but I'm only one of them. Harry is a champion too." He replies,

"Well then there's more chance of Hogwarts winning! Come on, cheer up! You're going to do really well!" she praises and he smiles, not noticing Fred and George giving the pair filthy looks. Later on that week, Cedric and the other champions get interviewed by Rita Skeeter and Elsie sits in the common room with the Daily Prophet open as she multi tasks between reading and doing her homework.

"You reading up on your little boyfriend?" Fred asks her scathingly as he and George draw near, but she ignores them as they pass and head up to their dormitory. When they return Elsie has finished her homework and so she follows them out of the passageway.

"I tell you, we're just going to have to ask, I'm sure it's a mistake." George says as Elsie goes unnoticed,

"I don't think so Georgie, he keeps avoiding us."

"Who's avoiding you?" Elsie asks and the twins jump, startled.

"Where did you come from?" Fred demands,

"From the common room." She says sarcastically, "What's going on?" she asks them and they glance at each other before pulling her down a deserted corridor.

"You know how we bet all our savings on the Quidditch match?"

"Yes, and you won." She says trying not to look so disapproving,

"Well our winnings turned out to be Leprechaun gold."

"Oh, that's not good." Elsie replies, knowing that the fools gold would disappear within a few days.

"No it isnt. We've been trying to speak to Ludo Bagman but he keeps avoiding us." George says,

"Which makes us think that he has not intention of giving us our winnings or our savings back at all." Fred adds bitterly,

"Well he can't, can he? That's simply not proper! You should send a letter to him! Or Cornelius Fudge…" Elsie says beginning to think of ways they can retrieve the twins money back and they look at her appreciatively,

"What?" she asks noticing their faces,

"We're just glad we have such a good friend." George says and she beams.

The night before the first task, Elsie finds it difficult to sleep as she worries about Cedric. She had researched previous Triwizard Tournaments and found out that there have been deaths in the past, which doesn't set her mind at ease. Unable to stand it anymore she gets out of bed and heads down to the empty common room, but then she sees something that makes takes her aback. There's a small elf in the room. His ears long and pointed like his nose, with large tennis ball green eyes.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" she asks puzzled and he turns to face her,

"No thanks Miss. Dobby is cleaning." He says in a squeaky voice. He is wearing miss matching socks and tiny children sized shorts.

"Do you want a hand?" she asks him politely and he looks at her in disbelief, but then his eyes start to water, "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you…" she says hurriedly,

"No Miss didn't offend Dobby. Dobby has never been asked if he wants help."

"That's mean." Elsie says as the elf bustles about, "Are there more of you living here?"

"Oh yes, we elves clean and cook everyday."

"You don't get holidays?" she asks shocked,

"The other elves don't want holidays. But Dobby is a free elf and gets one day off a month, he even gets paid too." The elf squeaks excitedly,

"Well that's good." She says smiling, "I should really be going to bed now though." She says and the elf nods at her, "But thank you Dobby. You all do such a good job of cooking and keeping the school clean." And the elf looks overjoyed,

"I like you Miss."

"Please, call me Elsie."

"Thank you Elsie, we house elves don't get much praise."

"Well now you do!" Elsie says waving before heading up to bed again.

Fred and George don't seem surprised by the news as they eat breakfast the next day.

"We've known elves live here for years. We found a way into the kitchens, they're happy." George says bringing out a strange box with slips inside.

"What is that?" she asks,

"We're placing bets on the outcome of each task, hopefully then we'll get some of the money we lost back." Fred explains and Elsie hits the pair of them over the head,

"Bloody hell!" they exclaim,

"How can you place bets on who loses and who wins?"

"And also whether anyone dies or not." George says and she shoots them furtive looks,

"That's even worse! Cedric and Harry are meant to be our friends! And Fleur and Krum are nice enough people as well! You can't do this, it's just wrong!"

"Watch us." George says and they get up and head out of the great hall. Elsie finishes her breakfast before following the rest of the students out to the arena and that's when she sees a Dragon.

"They have to be joking!" she proclaims as she stands beside Hermione and Ron.

"I know, it's awful." Hermione says and Ron just stands looking terrified. A cannon booms and she watches anxiously as Cedric enters. He points his wand at a nearby rock and transfigures it into a Dog, which works well, distracting the Dragon before it decides it would much rather have Cedric, who gets badly burned as he just manages to grab the golden egg. Elsie claps the loudest as Cedric retreats to get his burns treated. Krum and Fleur go, each with their own magic up their sleeves, but they don't really do very well as Krum's dragon steps on the real dragon eggs. Harry emerges, and the Hungarian Horntail is vicious towards him, and Harry jumps onto his broom and flies off, the Dragon breaking its chains and following after him, flying into the teachers stand.

"Well done Dragon!" Fred shouts as it tears through the through and the teachers scream and the crowd applauds. After several agonising minutes, Harry reappears on his broom and grabs the golden egg, and the first task is over! Harry comes in first place followed by Cedric, Krum and Fleur.

Elsie doesn't speak to the twins for days after the first task, she's too annoyed about their betting scheme. Besides, she has too much on her mind. Not only is she preparing for her N.E.W.T's and finding time to do all of her homework, she also has apparition tests to worry about, and during the sixth years second lesson, she remains the only one to have apparated into her hoop. Hermione starts to campaign for elf rights once she realises they cook and clean for the whole school, and Elsie signs up and receives a badge with S.P.E.W on the front. Most others don't take it very seriously, especially Fred and George, and she continues to ignore them as they repeat over and over,

"They like it here! They like cooking and cleaning, you havent seen them in the kitchens. They love it." A few weeks before the Christmas holidays start, all the fourth years and above are taken to a large room where the girls sit on one side and the boys on the other as Professor McGonagall announces,

"The Yule ball has been a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament, since its inception. On Christmas Eve night we and our guests gather in the great hall for a night of well mannered frivolity." She says as Mr Filch tinkers with the large gramophone,

"As representatives of the host school, I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward, and I mean this literally because the Yule ball, is first and for most, a dance." She finishes and the girls whisper excitedly as the boys groan. Elsie rolls her eyes in disbelief. She had never, ever danced before. Ever. And she didn't want to begin now.

"Silence!" McGonagall says as Elsie looks gloomily at the twins who grin at her, "The house of Godric Gryffindor has commanded the respect of the wizarding world for nearly ten centuries. I will not have you in the course of a single evening besmirching that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of buffoons!" she exclaims and Elsie looks down at her scuffed shoes, she should really be buying herself a new pair soon before the scuffs turn into holes. Elsie looks back up and watches the twins sniggering and muttering to each other and she looks at them curiously.

"Now, to dance is to let the body breeze, inside every girl a secret swan slumbers longing to burst forth and take flight," her head of house continues and Elsie looks at her as if she is mad. She has never heard anything quite so ridiculous. There was certainly no swan slumbering inside of her. Ron Weasley mutters something to his friends and McGonagall turns to him and says,

"Inside every boy a lordly Lion prepares to prance. Mr Weasley…"

"Yes?" he asks,

"Will you join me please?" she asks and he gets to his feet looking mortified, "Place your right hand on my waist." She tells him and his face glows red.

"Where?"

"On my waist." McGonagall says and so he does as Fred and George wolf whistle teasingly. Mr Filch then starts playing the dull music and McGonagall leads Ron in the dance as the twins laugh.

"Everybody come together! Boys on your feet!" McGonagall demands as all the girls spring up, apart from Elsie who watches as the only boy that gets up is Neville Longbottom.

McGonagall stops dancing with Ron and bustles the boys out of their seats and soon the room is filled with embarrassed boys and girls, trying to dance in time with the music as Elsie watches amused. George nears her after a while as she smirks around the room,

"Come and dance." He says unabashed, holding one hand out and she laughs,

"I'm alright." But McGonagall appears,

"Miss MacDonald, get up off your chair and dance with Mr Weasley." She orders and Elsie clicks her tongue before resentfully taking George's hand and letting him pull her up.

"So, why don't you want to dance?" he asks her looking pleased with himself,

"I don't dance." She says as he places one hand on her waist and they attempt to dance.

"I can see that." He replies and she purposefully steps on his foot, "Ouch!" he exclaims,

"It serves you right." She mutters, wishing she could apparate from the school.


	20. The Yule Ball

The Yule Ball

Over the next few days, Elsie noticed a dramatic change in everybody. Angelina, Alicia and Katie had become much more giggly around boys and even Fred and George were paying more attention to girls. Elsie found this extremely annoying, and she couldn't go anywhere without the Slytherin's taunting her.

"Who are you going to the ball with Smellsie? Yourself?" Maria Hawking shouts to her as Elsie sits beside Cedric in Potions.

"Are you alright?" he asks her concerned and she laughs,

"I'm fine. It's you we should be worrying about, have you started working on your egg yet?" she asks opening up her books,

"Yes, but it is difficult." He admits,

"I'm sure you will solve it no bother." She replies grinning. At the end of the lesson as they walk to the great hall together Cedric grabs her arm and pulls her back and she looks at him curiously as they stand in the entrance hall.

"What's wrong Ced?" she asks him,

"Well- I- I was wondering whether you wanted to go to the ball with me?" He asks and her stomach droops. As much as she cared for Cedric as a friend, she didn't like him that way, and there was a small part of her hoping Fred might ask her to the ball at some point.

"I don't think that's fair do you?" she asks him sympathetically, "Ced, you're my best friend. You'll always be my best friend… you could do so much better though." She says as he looks down uncomfortably at his shoes. At that precise moment Elsie catches Cho Chang walking with her friends into the hall and Elsie remembers hearing something Angelina said earlier.

"I know for a fact that Cho Chang fancies you, you should ask her." She tells him and he looks at her taken aback,

"Really?"

"Yeah, you two would be great together." She says and Cedric smiles,

"You know, I think I will. Thanks Elsie." He says hurrying into the hall and she smiles after him.

In the hall, Elsie drops into a seat beside Fred as George mutters loudly,

"Sod it. We're never getting our money back."

"You can't give up now!" Elsie exclaims,

"We don't really have a choice Els." He replies dejectedly,

"Unless we play dirty like him." Fred whispers,

"In what way do you mean dirty?" Elsie asks him but he ignores her and they jump up from the table and hurry away. 'That's not good.' Elsie thinks to herself silently. She returns to the common room later on to find an outraged Hermione.

"Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Rita Skeeter's been writing lies about her in the Daily Prophet. She's been getting hate mail from readers." Ginny explains,

"That's terrible!" she proclaims sympathetically,

"Everyone's talking about it! I'm going to get her back if it's the last thing I do!" Hermione says marching from the common room. Elsie looks around but cannot find Fred and George anywhere, and she takes this as a bad sign.

Elsie soon became annoyed by the girls in the courtyards and corridors practising dancing with their friends, or acting all silly whenever boys passed. It turned out that the girls from Beauxbatons was much more above it all, and Elsie respected them more because of it. The Durmstrang boys however were very polite and courteous when asking girls out as Elsie noticed on several occasions while walking to and from classes, much more so than the nervous wrecks from her own school. She soon became tired of it all and would shut herself away in the library to escape from the nonsense. During study time one day, with her head in a book as usual while finishing off her homework, she heard Ron and Harry discussing not having dates for the ball. Fred writes a note and passes it to his younger brother,

"Who are you going with then?" Ron hisses back as Fred rolls up the piece of parchment and throws it at Angelina, narrowly missing Elsie's head. Who sits up disapprovingly.

"Angelina!" he whispers before miming asking her out to the ball before pointing to himself.

"The ball? Yeah alright then." She replies turning to speak to Alicia again, a smile on her face. Fred winks at his brother and unable to suppress the rage building inside of her, Elsie picks up her large pile of books and flees from the hall.

She runs up the moving staircase to the only place she knows no one will find her, and she pushes open the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom before starting to cry, glad that no tears appear in her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Myrtle asks her appearing from her favourite cubicle,

"I don't know." Elsie replies opening her book and taking out her parchment and continuing to read,

"Don't cry if you don't know why. I should be crying because I'm dead." She says bluntly and Elsie smiles at her through her pain,

"That's true."

"If you're going to keep crying then I'm going to another bathroom." She says before vanishing. Elsie finishes her homework before heading to the common room that night and she finds Fred with Angelina sitting on the sofa together chatting. Elsie holds her head up higher as she marches towards the stairs that lead to the dormitories, but George jumps in her way.

"Hey, are you going to the ball with pretty boy?" he asks,

"Who? Oh, Cedric, no." she says trying to get past him but he moves in front of her again,

"Do you want to go to the ball with me?" he asks and she looks at him sceptically, wondering whether this is one of his jokes.

"You're not mucking around are you?" she asks,

"No!" George says earnestly,

"Fine, I'll go with you. Just as friends." She says pompously, before storming up to her dormitory.

The day of the Yule ball approaches. She finds out from Hermione and Ginny that Hermione is going to the ball with Viktor Krum, but Elsie keeps her promise not to tell a soul. Her father has sent her her only dress from home and she changes into it quickly before pulling on her shoes. Her shoes were plain black and her dress was plain as well. It was a pale blue colour made from layers of floaty material. Her sleeves were strapless and there was a silver band around the waist. She thought she was ready, but when Hermione and Ginny find her they get to work on her hair, putting it into an elegant do and putting a little makeup on her face, and when they have done, Elsie hardly recognises herself. She is no longer the dull, batty girl… she looks normal, pretty even.

"Thank you." Elsie breathes in astonishment to her friends and they smile,

"Come on!" Ginny says heading from the dormitory.

"Hermione are you coming?" Elsie asks her friend, who remains unmoving,

"In a minute, you go down. I'll be down later." She says looking nervous and Elsie smiles before following Ginny down to the great hall. Ginny enters first and hurries over to Neville Longbottom who is her date for the ball but Elsie stands in the entrance admiring the room. Everyone, including the teachers are dressed in their finery, and there are icicles and ice sculptures decorating the hall and it looks totally transformed. Snow is falling from the enchanted ceiling, and there are the large Christmas trees dotted around the room. The usual long tables have gone, and there is a large dancing space in the centre of the room and also a stage. The only tables in the room are circular and spread about the dance floor.

Fred, George, Angelina, Lee, Alicia and Katie stand nearby, waiting for the champions to open the ball.

"Where's Els?" George says peering over the heads of the other students.

"I dunno. Hey, maybe she's stood you up." Fred teases,

"We're just here as friends." George repeats once again to his brother.

"Isnt that her?" Alicia asks the group as she points to a small, unfamiliar person in a flowing pale blue dress. Her hair is wavy and elegant and she looks plain but beautiful. They all stare at her as she stumbles towards them through the crowd, the twins' faces equal in disbelief,

"No, no, it can't be." Fred stammers and Angelina glances at him looking furious.

"Hi." Elsie says as she reaches her friends looking embarrassed as they continue to stare at her,

"Hi." They sigh back at her and she turns away from them as she watches Cedric emerge with Cho on his arm, then Hermione with Krum, Fleur with Roger Davies and Harry with Parvati. They begin to dance and soon Dumbledore and McGonagall sweep onto the dance floor and the other teachers join in as well as most of the other students.

"Come on." George says taking Elsie's hand and leading her onto the dance floor,

"George!" she complains as he twirls her around and her face burns.

"It is a ball, Els. You're meant to dance." He says sarcastically so she doesn't complain for the rest of the dance. When the music finishes Elsie tries to leave for a nearby table but George pulls her back as the Weird Sisters enter the stage and begin to play a much more upbeat song. George spins her around with much more energy and she cannot help but laugh. After a few songs she soon gets bored of the loud music and the screaming people so she sits down at a table by herself watching Cedric dancing with Cho and George with a girl from Beauxbatons.

After sitting by herself for several hours, Elsie goes to the bathroom and when she returns, mostly everyone has left and went to bed. She looks around for her friends, but the only people she can see are Fred and Angelina, dancing romantically to the love ballad the weird sisters play. Elsie swallows hard and blinks back the tears, spinning around and hurrying from the great hall. She doesn't get very far though before George calls her name,

"Elsie? Els, what's the matter?" he asks her and she rounds on him furiously.

"Nothing's the matter. Why would it be the matter? Why do you have to be so ignorant and annoying and nosy all the time! Why should I tell you what my problems are when you don't care about anything but yourself?" she demands and he looks at her stunned,

"I'm sorry…" he says and she relents, sliding into a sitting position on the stairs,

"It's not your fault." She says starting to sob and he sits beside her and she leans her head against him as he comforts her,

"Is it someone who looks incredibly like me's fault?" he asks and she sniffs loudly, but doesn't answer. George seems to realise that this means yes and he gets to his feet, helping her up,

"Come on, let's get back to the common room before you flood the whole entrance hall." He says and she smiles weakly, knowing full well no tears have left her eyes, although they swim there, but she blinks them back angrily.


	21. Heartache

Heartache

Elsie and George did not speak about her breakdown. Elsie was surprised by this and she was very grateful. It turned out that Cedric had a great time with Cho, which she was happy about, but it also turned out Fred had a great time with Angelina which she wasn't too thrilled with, but she didn't say anything, and spent more and more time in the library or with Myrtle. On the day of the second task, she went with her friends to the boat shed, where they boarded one and were taken magically to a large tower in the middle of the lake.

"So, Els I didn't ask whether you had a good time with this prat?" Fred says and Elsie swallows hard and smiles,

"Yes, it was rather enjoyable."

"You don't seem too convinced." Fred jokes but she doesn't say anything apart from,

"So are you both still holding bets?"

"We have to don't we, we've lost all our money." George says grumpily.

For the spectators, the second task isnt as exciting as the first, but Elsie is pleased when Cedric emerges from the depths with Cho first.

"Go Cedric!" she cries loudly as she claps her hands furiously and the twins exchange annoyed looks. Harry comes last with Ron but also with Fleur's little sister and Dumbledore announces that because he got there first, the judges have awarded Harry second place, meaning he is tie with Cedric.

"I wonder what the third task will be." Elsie ponders as she gets into a boat with the twins,

"Maybe giants." Fred says,

"Or a vampire or two." George teases and she sighs exasperated. During charms class the next day, Elsie congratulates Cedric readily and he grins at her,

"I thought you would be supporting Harry as he's from your house."

"I support both of you. You represent our school." She replies as she helps him with his summoning charm they are revising for their exams. Over the next few weeks, Elsie passes her apparition test with distinction, as well as Fred and George who learned pretty quickly considering they weren't really listening to the instructor half the time. They sit their N.E.W.T exams and Elsie believes they went extremely well for her, but her friends are less joyful.

"I doubt we even got one question right." Fred says as they walk to the common room after their last exam,

"Well you do deserve it, I've been warning you they were coming for months but you didn't listen." She says sternly.

"Oh well, anyway, the third task is coming up soon. We think Harry may win." George interrupts before Fred can say something snide back to her.

"Yes… or Cedric. I hope it's either one of them." She says thoughtfully but she doesn't enter the common room,

"What's wrong?" Fred asks her curiously,

"I've forgotten something, I'll be back later." She says running off down the moving marble staircase until she reaches Myrtle's bathroom.

"Myrtle, you havent seen…" she begins only just noticing the ghost crying in a corner,

"What's wrong?" Elsie asks befuddled,

"Someone came in and said mean things to me." She says morosely,

"I'm sorry." Elsie says finding her lost book by the sink,

"They were trying to take that book but I stopped them."

"Thank you Myrtle." Elsie says looking up at her sadly, "Do you know who it was?" Elsie asks,

"No I don't know who it was! I hardly walk around the castle and sit in classes anymore do I?" she shouts angrily,

"I'm sorry, I just thought you might have seen her in here before."

"It was a Hufflepuff, that's all I know." She replies dejectedly turning and floating around near the ceiling,

"Don't listen to them Myrtle, alright?" Elsie asks her and after a long silence she heads back to the common room.

When Elsie enters she finds only a few people inside, and Fred Weasley is shouting loudly at Angelina.

"So after taking you to the ball you're going to go off with Roger Davies?" he shouts at her furiously,

"I'm sorry, Fred! It just wasn't working out!" she replies quietly,

"I can't believe you! We've been friends for years and you're just going to blow me off like this?"

"Look Fred, we can still be friends. It's just that Roger and I really clicked…"

"Oh save it." Fred says pushing past Elsie and hurrying from the common room. Elsie looks at George who hurries after him and then she catches Angelina's eye and she looks at her sadly but Elsie turns nervously and follows her best friends out the passageway. She finds them talking in an abandoned corridor and when she nears they look at her quickly,

"I'm sorry Fred." Is all Elsie can say, trying to get her brain to stop jumping for joy.

"It's just… I've really liked Angelina for a long time and…" he begins cutting off as Elsie looks down at the ground, her heart deflating again.

"Well mate, you can do better if she's leaving you for a tosser like Davies." George says bracingly and the two of them laugh before they head down for dinner, Elsie feeling upset but ecstatic at the same time.

The day of the third task brings much excitement, and after dinner Fred, George and Elsie head down with the other students to the arena.

"Bloody hell." George says as they sit in the stands looking out at the giant maze sweeping along the valley.

"Oh, I do hope they've learned the point me spell, that would be very handy when it comes to…" Elsie begins but Fred places a hand over her mouth to stop her ranting. After the breakup, Fred and Elsie became good friends again, mainly due to the fact that he wasn't speaking to Angelina, Alicia or Katie who had all sided with Angelina.

"Do us a favour Els, and shut up?" he tells her as she shrugs him off. When Cedric appears and takes his place she waves at him and he returns it smiling nervously.

"I do hope there are dangerous creatures in there." George says with venom,

"George! Don't say such things, besides, I thought you were friends with Harry?" Elsie asks him reproachfully,

"I am, but it would make it much more exciting." He says and she bites her lip angrily. The champions enter the maze and they sit and wait. After a while red sparks appear in the sky, and some teachers hurry off to go and save whomever it is, but they don't appear with the hurt champion.

"I wonder who it is?" Elsie asks worried,

"I bet it's Fleur." George says,

"Why, because she's the girl?" Elsie demands,

"No, because she's been last in each task." Fred explains simply and Elsie bites her lip, unable to argue anymore.

Suddenly, Harry and Cedric appear at the entrance of the maze, clutching the Triwizard cup. The crowd applauds loudly but Elsie realises something is wrong and Dumbledore and the Minister for Magic hurry around Harry and Cedric. Fleur screams nearby and Mr Diggory hurries down before kneeling beside his son, and Elsie gets a better look at the scene. Cedric is lying pale and glassy eyed on the grass and Mr Diggory begins to wail. Elsie screams, realising what has happened, and she breaks down in tears, letting them for the first time in her life flood down her face. Fred wraps an arm around her looking dumbstruck and she sobs into him. Her best friend. Cedric Diggory. The boy that stuck by her through all these years. Dead. The staff bustle the students back to their house common rooms and Elsie lies in bed, her hangings drawn as she sobs into her pillow. He was her best friend, and had always been despite her continually refusing to go out with him. She had watched him grow from a bumbling boy into a super cool, popular guy, but he hadn't changed to her. She wanted to know how he died. She wanted the truth and she wanted to avenge him, whatever it took.

The days passed and the good weather seemed to mock her and her friends. The twins were very respectful for once, they comforted Elsie, knowing how much he meant to her, and as the rumours emerged that Lord Voldermort was resurrected and that he was the one that killed Cedric, more rumours emerge. Mad Eye Moody was a death eater using Polyjuice potion to make sure that Harry was transported by the cup to a graveyard where one of you know who's servants used Harry's blood to perform a dark, old ritual to bring him back. The death eater in question had the Dementors kiss put upon him by a dementor that escorted Cornelius Fudge to where the man was being held. He was worse than dead. The real mad eye was being cared for in the hospital wing by Madam Pomfrey and he was expected to make a full recovery. Elsie didn't know what to believe anymore, and it was only on one mournful day towards the end of term did she get her head in order. She sat in between the twins in the great hall, the tables had been replaced by rows of benches and Dumbledore got up at the front of the room and began to speak, silent tears slipping from Elsie's eyes. She wasn't only unbearably sad, she was also scared for the first time in her life. With he who must not be named back, then she, being a mudblood was more at risk than most others.

"Today we acknowledge a really terrible loss. Cedric Diggory was, as you all know, exceptionally hard working, infinitely fair-minded, and most importantly, a fierce, fierce friend." He begins and Elsie reaches for the twins and they take her hands in theirs.

"Therefore, I feel you have the right to know exactly how he died. You see, Cedric Diggory was murdered, by Lord Voldermort. The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this. But not to do so I feel would be an insult to his memory." Their headmaster bellows and Elsie sniffs loudly, looking down at the floor, remembering her first Potions lesson in first year with Cedric.

"Now the pain we all feel at this dreadful loss reminds me, and, reminds us, that though we may come from different countries and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one. In light of the recent events, the bonds of friendship made this year will be more important than ever. Remember that, and Cedric Diggory will not have died in vain. You remember that, and we'll celebrate a boy who was kind, and honest, and brave, and true. Right to the very end." Dumbledore finishes and Elsie breaks down completely, leaning into Fred as she does so.

Later that afternoon, Elsie stands alone in the deserted common room. She opens up an old Daily Prophet lying by the fire, waiting to be used as a fuel. Inside she finds an article on the Triwizard champions and she stares at the picture of Cedric, smiling nervously at her. Tears spring to her eyes and she sets it down quickly.

"Els?" a voice asks her timidly and she looks up and finds Fred standing looking awkward.

"Hi." She chokes,

"I'm so sorry."

"He-he was my best friend. And- and I never told him that… and now I never will. Voldermort killed him, and he's back and he's going to try and kill me because I'm a mudblood."

"You are not a mudblood!" Fred exclaims,

"Yes I am! I am and I'm proud to be one! Maybe then I'll get a shot at killing him off and some death eaters if they come for me! Then I can get them back for killing…" she says unable to say his name and Fred hurries forward and hugs her tightly as she tries not to cry into his chest. After a few minutes they pull back slightly, their faces inches from each other. And without thinking, they both lean forward instinctively and press their lips together. Even through the pain inside her heart, Elsie cannot help feeling a burning erupt inside of her, and she presses her hands to his chest, taking in the smell of him that she loved so much. They break apart, looking confused and embarrassed, and silently, Elsie retreats backwards before hurrying up to her dormitory.

She fumbles around in her trunk for a leather bound book and she opens it, turning each page of her and her father, her and Hermione and Ginny, her and the twins, until she finds the only photo she has of Cedric. Bronze haired, tall and muscled, standing beside her, making her look even smaller and weirder. They both are waving and laughing. She shuts the book lightly, before holding it close to her chest,

"I'll never forget you Ced." She whispers to the air around her.

On the Hogwarts express, Elsie sits in a compartment with a third year girl with long blonde wavy hair and large protuberant eyes. She comes across as someone quite lonely, but dotty as well and they sit in silence for a while.

"So, what's your name?" Elsie asks and the girl looks up in shock at being addressed,

"I'm Luna. Luna Lovegood." She says,

"I'm Elsie MacDonald." Elsie replies in a friendly manner,

"Why are you being nice to me?"

"Why shouldn't I be?" Elsie asks puzzled,

"Most people are rude to me. Almost everyone calls me Loony." She says picking up a pair of bright glasses and putting them on, making her look like a multi coloured owl.

"That's not very nice."

"No, but it's all good fun to them really." She replies matter of factly. Elsie looks at her reading the Quibbler for a while before noticing Fred and George walk past the compartment. When they see her, Fred looks away embarrassed, but George waves. Clearly Fred didn't tell George what happened, and Elsie is secretly pleased.

"Why are you so sad?" Luna asks and Elsie looks back to her,

"Lots of reasons." She replies airily,

"What are they?" Luna Lovegood asks her looking at her inquisitively.

"Cedric Diggory was my best friend." Elsie stammers, saying Ced's name for the first time in weeks.

"He still is your friend. Just because he's not here anymore doesn't mean he's gone." Luna says and Elsie feels her heart lifting slightly because of this lonely, other worldly girl.

"You know, you're probably the only person I've met without Wrackspurts in their head." Luna says looking around in the air and Elsie smiles at her, not even caring what Wrackspurts were,

"Thank you."


	22. New Times

_**Thank you for your reviews and bothering to read this! It makes me so happy! Also, in the real books students take their N.E.W.T's at seventh year, but I thought having them in sixth would be better, and it would be a way to make everyone hate Umbridge more, but more on that later! Anyway, I will continue writing if you continue reading! Thanks, and I don't own Harry Potter!**_

New Times

Elsie wakes, lying in her bed shivering in a nervous sweat. She gets up, washes and changes, blocking the images of her best friend lying dead on the ground. She had hoped that her friends Fred and George would write to her over the summer, but she hasn't received any letters from them at all. Which is fine. She doesn't mind being alone now. Her father is away on business as usual, and she stays in the leaky cauldron, her trunk packed and ready for her trip to kings cross station. Elsie couldn't bring herself to tell her father what happened, and after a while he got angry by her solemn state and found excuses to keep himself out of the house. Elsie could deal with this easily, but what she was furious about at the beginning of the holidays was the lack of communication from her friends, and when that stopped completely, she stopped being bothered. Even though she can apparate, she cannot do so legally so she gets the muggle bus to the station before walking through the barrier to platform 9 3/4. Once on the train she finds an empty compartment and stows her trunk and owl cage away before opening her school book she has read three times now and begins to read again. During the summer she received her N.E.W.T results and got outstanding in Potions, Defence against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms and History of Magic and exceeds expectations in her other subjects. She had wanted to know what her friends got but seeing as they had avoided her letters all summer she no longer cared. They had ignored her at one of the darkest times in her life, so she would just ignore them.

No one bothers her for the whole train journey to Hogwarts which lasts most of the day, and when the train pulls in at Hogsmeade station, she jumps out and gets into a carriage with some people she doesn't know before being taken up to her beloved school. She enters from the cold, dressed in her Hogwarts uniform and sits at the Gryffindor table. Angelina, Alicia and Katie don't acknowledge her, possibly because they are still angry she sided with Fred when he and Angelina broke up, but when the twins enter the hall and sit opposite her with Lee she ignores them stonily.

"Hey Els, how are you?" George asks sitting down and she continues to stare up at the staff table. She notices that Hagrid isnt there yet, and she guesses he is probably crossing the lake with the first years as usual, although she didn't hear his usual call on the platform… there is also a toad like woman wearing nothing but pink frilly old lady clothes and she looks at her disapprovingly, silently deciding that she doesn't trust the smug look on her face. She feels happy that this year will be one to relax, after finishing all her exams and knowing that she has reached the requirements needed to become an Auror, it was hard not to notice how much Cedric would have loved it. The sorting commences, but still Hagrid does not appear, which makes Elsie worry slightly, but she casts it aside as Dumbledore gets to his feet after the last first year is sorted into their house.

"To our newcomers welcome! To our old hands- welcome back! There is a time for speech-making, but this is not it. Tuck in!" he says and food appears on the table and Elsie remembers when she was worrying about Cedric one night and found out that house elves were the ones that cooked the magnificent feasts. She ate in silence as the twins talked with Lee and occasionally tried to speak to Elsie but she remained ignorant to them and they soon stopped asking her questions.

After the food had disappeared, Dumbledore got to his feet again and spoke,

"Good evening children! Now, we have two changes in staffing this year. We're pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank who'll be taking care of magical creatures while Professor Hagrid is on temporary leave." Dumbledore announces and Elsie wonders where Hagrid is… he couldn't have been fired, Dumbledore and Hagrid were firm friends… so where on earth was he?

"We also wish to welcome our new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Dolores Umbridge. And I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing the Professor good luck. Now, as usual, our caretaker, Mr Filch, has asked me to remind you-" Dumbledore says but he is interrupted by Professor Umbridge making a ridiculously fake cough. She gets to her feet and walks to the front of the podium where the staff table sits and says in a sickly sweet voice,

"Thank you, headmaster, for those kind words of welcome. And how lovely to see all your bright, happy faces smiling up at me. I am sure we are going to be very good friends." She says smiling down at them as if they were four year olds. Elsie looks around the hall and no one is smiling at this annoying new teacher.

"That's likely." The twins say together and although she is completely annoyed by them, Elsie feels the corners of her mouths twitch.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance." Umbridge says becoming much more business like, "Although each headmaster has brought something new to this historic school, progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that ought to be prohibited." She finishes giggling squeakily. Elsie watches in distaste as she sits back down, the other teachers looking taken aback. After Dumbledore finishes his speech what is mostly the same every year, Elsie gets up from the table and follows the other students out of the hall and towards the marble staircase, before she can get up the first step, she is grabbed from behind and dragged to a quiet part of the entrance hall.

She turns around furiously and finds herself facing the twins.

"Els, listen to us please!" George says earnestly as she just stares at them coldly.

"We're sorry we didn't reply to your letters during the summer!" Fred says and she cannot meet his eyes,

"We wanted to really, it's just that Dumbledore made us swear not to contact anyone." George adds and she is taken aback by this news.

"Dumbledore said that? Why?" she asks disbelievingly,

"We'll tell you the whole story." Fred says,

"Everything, promise. Just, not here." George says looking around for anyone listening in and they drag her up the moving marble staircase until they reach an abandoned corridor. They then tell Elsie all that happened to them over the summer. It turns out that their parents joined a secret organisation called the Order of the Phoenix that Dumbledore set up during the first wizarding war to fight off you know who. Now he was back the Order was re-established and they were living in the headquarters in London.

"We really wanted to write to you, but Dumbledore said we couldn't in case death eaters tracked the owls." Fred says and she looks at him properly since their last encounter, and when they lock eyes, they stare at each other for a while before looking away again, embarrassed.

"I understand now, really I do. It's just… I really needed you both this summer." She says cutting off.

"We know, we're so sorry." Fred says sadly,

"Anyway, guess what? Harry gave us his winnings last June, he said he didn't want them. We've been inventing all summer, we've got tons of new stuff now. We're going to start selling them this year." George says excitedly.

"You can't sell stuff here! It could be dangerous." Elsie replies and they grin at her,

"It's good to have you back." He says wrapping one arm around her as she rants on as they return to their common room.

On the way down to the great hall for breakfast the next day, the three friends notice a large crowd in the entrance hall, all staring up at a new plaque on the wall.

"What does it say? I can't see!" Elsie exclaims, jumping up and down beside the twins. They could easily see though because of how tall they were,

"_By order of the Minister of Magic N.E.W.T examinations will now take place in seventh year_. No way." George says in stunned disbelief,

"They simply can't make us take the exam again! I already have six outstandings!" Elsie says desperately, "I will go and speak to Professor McGonagall about it immediately!" she says and they enter the hall and she hurries up to her head of house who is handing out timetables.

"Professor…" she begins as McGonagall hands her her timetable.

"I know what you are going to ask Miss MacDonald. I am sorry but yes, it does mean you will have to take your exams again."

"But why Professor?" she pleads desperately,

"I understand your frustration, but this has come from the Minister himself. I am afraid there is simply nothing I can do." She says sympathetically and Elsie turns and sits down opposite the twins.

"We have to take them again!"

"Bloody hell." George says dropping his spoon into his bowl of cereal.

"What on earth is the Minister playing at? First turning against Harry and Dumbledore, and now this?" Fred exclaims angrily,

"What do you mean turning against Harry and Dumbledore?" Elsie asks puzzled,

"Havent you been reading the Daily Prophet?" George asks,

"Fudge has been using all his power to make out Harry and Dumbledore are lying about you know who being back."

"But they're not! He killed…" she says cutting off,

"I know! But because people are reading it in the papers then they don't believe he is back." George says and Elsie places her fork down loudly on the table in anger.

"They can't do this. I bet you it is something to do with her." Fred says looking at Umbridge looking more smug than usual.

"Then we'll just have to make her pay." George says with a grin on his face, and for once, Elsie doesn't try and stop them.

Their first Defence against the dark arts lesson with Umbridge was a catastrophe but Elsie made up her mind to get her own back on Umbridge. First, they found out that their new course would not allow them to use magic at all, much to everyone's fury and disappointment.

"How are we going to pass our practical exam if we havent practiced first?" Elsie asks her furiously,

"As long as you have studied hard enough you will pass easily." She says giggling shrilly and Elsie stares at her in anger.

"And if we don't?" she replies and the class goes silent. Elsie has never answered a teacher back.

"Students will raise their hands in my classroom." She barks. Fred raises his hand and she looks at him, her lip curling,

"Yes?"

"Well we need to get all the practice we can."

"And why would that be?"

"I don't know, because Voldermort is back?" he asks and when he says the name the class jumps and shivers and gasps.

"You have been told that a certain dark wizard is once again at large, this is a lie." Umbridge replies,

"So you think Cedric Diggory died of his own accord?" Elsie shouts at her, her hands trembling,

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident."

"No it wasn't it was murder!" she shouts at her,

"Detention for you I think, until you learn to hold your tongue." Umbridge says dangerously.

That night Fred and George comfort Elsie as she sits in the corridor outside the noisy common room.

"I don't understand… how can she…?" she stammers and George looks at her sympathetically,

"I don't care what you do, but you two have to give her hell." Elsie says and they beam at her,

"We're on it." They say in unison. After a weeks worth of detentions with Umbridge, doing nothing but lines on a piece of paper, using her own quill despite Umbridge insisting she uses her own one, she returns feeling lighter inside. Fred and George are being shouted at by Hermione.

"What have you done now?" Elsie asks them as Hermione sits back down.

"We were only testing them." Fred says showing her a packet of strange sweets,

"Are they?" she asks and they nod, "You shouldn't have! I told you not to!"

"Well we're not going to now, she threatened to tell our mum." George says casting an angry look at Hermione,

"Gosh, why didn't I think of that?" Elsie asks aloud in admiration and the twins give her an annoyed look.

Over the next few weeks, Hogwarts changes drastically. Umbridge is appointed high inquisitor and gets to inspect all of the teachers, much to Elsie's anger.

"I don't understand how she can do this. That evil old gargoyle!" she proclaims at lunch when the twins tell her the news.

"I know. We'll get her back soon though. Anyway, happy birthday." George says handing her a present and she smiles at them as she opens it, finding a new book.

"Thank you!" she says opening it up and reading whilst eating her ham sandwiches.

"Your welcome!" George says grinning.

"I'm going to go to the-"

"Library." The twins interrupt,

"Well yes, I need to finish some homework during my free period." She says getting to her feet as Angelina, Alicia and Katie join them. Despite the tension between Fred and Angelina, they seem polite to each other. As they are both on the Quidditch team they have to be courteous otherwise they wouldn't play as well. The twins were falling behind in their homework again due to their Quidditch practice and the amount of time they took selling their Weasleys Wizard Wheezes products. Elsie hurries out the hall but before she can walk up the stairs, Fred calls,

"Els!" and she turns around to face him, feeling her insides chirming in her stomach. They hadn't been alone since their last encounter.

"I want to give you this away from George. I don't want him to think I've gone soft." He says handing her a small package wrapped in silver paper. She opens it curiously before a silver bracelet falls into her hand. She looks at it in amazement. It is a long chain of silver stars, all different sizes, and each has a tiny bead a different colour between them all. She had never held something so simple yet beautiful. She had never owned anything so pretty before.

"Thanks." She says hoarsely, unable to look up at him.

"Welcome." Fred replies and she makes herself look up into his face.

"You shouldn't have."

"Well what's the point in having a small fortune and no one to share it with." He replies grinning and after she slips it onto her wrist among her many other bangles and beads she opens her mouth and says nervously,

"Fred… before the summer… what did that mean?" and he looks at her confused,

"What do you mean, what did it mean?"

"Nothing. It doesn't matter." She says embarrassed looking down at her hands, her fingers playing with each other in nerves. After a long, embarrassing and heartbreaking pause, Fred takes her hands gently in his, and she looks up at him slowly, confused.

"I- I think it meant something." He stutters apprehensively.

"You do?" she asks in disbelief and he smiles and her knees seem to disappear beneath her,

"I do." He replies leaning down slowly, but before their lips can touch a voice behind them says,

"Hello…" and they spring apart, George leaning on a wall next to them, his eyebrows raised. Elsie feels her face burns and she turns and runs up the stairs to the library before skipping along the corridor, grinning for the first time in months.


	23. Relationships

_**Soooo they finally got together! But it's not going to go that easily I'm afraid… keep reading and reviewing! Thanks!**_

Relationships

Not many people find out about Fred and Elsie's new relationship though. They try and keep it to themselves, and besides, even though Fred is well known throughout the school, Elsie isnt even known in her own house. Angelina tells the pair outside charms the next day,

"Congratulations!" although she says it through gritted teeth, despite the fact she is still dating Roger Davies. The Slytherin's taunts are expected however,

"Eh Weasley, you dating that little freak? I'm sure you'll be very happy together in that pigsty you call home." Pucey shouts to them as the pair walk down the corridor.

"Leave it!" Elsie says quickly, taking Fred's hand in hers and pulling him along down the corridor. They don't get to spend that much time together though, for Angelina insists on Quidditch practice almost daily and Elsie has her head in her books most of the time, trying not only to do her own homework, but helping Fred and George keep up with theirs.

"We've already told you, we don't care about our N.E.W.T's. We're just here to sell and do project research." George says as they walk down to care of magical creatures.

"But-" Elsie begins to scold them but Fred takes her hand and pulls her in for a kiss, cutting her off. George makes a disgusted noise before marching off. Although the pair aren't as lovey dovey as most other couples he seems to be very annoyed whenever they are together.

"What's wrong with George?" Elsie asks Fred as they break apart, following after him,

"I dunno. I think he's jealous, he's all on his ownsome." Fred teases. But what nobody realised was that George was jealous, but not for that reason.

Despite the fact Elsie is now the happiest she has ever felt, she still continues to be herself, not letting it change her at all. She helps Hermione knit hats for the house elves to be left around the common room and she continues to go and visit Myrtle in her bathroom, and she notices a change in her mood.

"Why are you so happy?" she barks at her as Elsie sits and finishes of a report for Umbridge.

"No reason." Elsie lies, knowing that if she tells Myrtle the truth, she will only be upset and shout at her.

"Well do it somewhere else will you? Not in front of someone that's dead!" she shouts anyway, diving into her favourite toilet. Even though everything seems to be going her way, despite Umbridge ruling the school with an iron fist and controlling everything from the twins products being possessed, flying, music being played, discussing Cedric's death and when educational decree number twenty six came out, saying that boys and girls were not allowed within six inches of each other, Fred made an extremely rude outburst over lunch.

"Over Merlin's soggy underwear." He says after Elsie calms him down.

"She's sick. I've read up on her, she's passed all this legislation about half breeds and magical creatures, making it impossible for Werewolves to get jobs. She even wants Merpeople rounded up and tagged." Elsie tells the twins, and she leans closer to the twins before whispering, "I just received a letter from Lupin who says that she even has a vendetta against muggle borns." She says and the twins turn and stare at her with venom.

"Listen, Hermione told us that they're going to form a secret group and Harry is going to teach us real Defence Against the Dark Arts." George whispers and Elsie bites her lip. As much as she wanted to learn to protect herself, to be taught by the boy that witnessed her best friend being killed… she didn't know. And she didn't want to get on the wrong side of Umbridge if she already hated muggle borns.

"I don't know…"

"You don't want to protect yourself against you know who?" Fred whispers,

"I do! It's just…" she says unable to put it into words. She already felt guilty enough, feeling so happy just months after Cedric's death.

"You don't want to get into trouble?" George asks disappointedly and Elsie picks at the wooden table,

"I guess." She says,

"Well, if you change your mind." The twins say getting up and heading away from the table.

The twins tell her all about the new secret organisation. There aren't many members at all, but they have named themselves the D.A, Dumbledore's army, as that is the Ministry's worst fear. They tell her all about the new spells they have learned, some of them Elsie can do, some of them she has read about, and some she has never heard of.

"You know you would be much further ahead if you had paid attention in class?" she asks the pair in the common room as they sell their skiving snackboxes.

"Sure. Anyway, aren't you going to tell us off little Miss prefect?" Fred teases,

"Oh no. I don't need to." She replies calmly and they look at her curiously,

"What do you mean?" George asks,

"Hermione's sending an owl to your mother right now." She replies and they jump up horrified.

One DADA lesson, Elsie loses control completely and snaps, because of what Umbridge says about Cedric.

"Miss, are we ever going to use spells?" Kenneth Towler asks her once again,

"No Mr Towler."

"But we need to practice them!" Roger Davies says indignantly, and Angelina nods beside him.

"Why would you ever need to practice them? Who would want to attack you?" she asks,

"Because you know who is out there!" Fred says angrily and she rounds on him, her face screwed up in rage.

"If you tell such atrocious lies once more Mr Weasley I will put you in detention for a month. Cedric Diggory died from a blunder he made in the last task of the Triwizard Tournament." She says calmly and Elsie springs to her feet,

"That's a lie!"

"Sit down Miss MacDonald!" Umbridge snaps at her, but Elsie remains standing up, glowering at her, when suddenly, the pink plates on the walls with moving cats on them smash and clatter to the floor. Elsie hasn't raised her wand to damage them, but it is clear it was her as she stands, her hands clenched.

"Detention, my office, six o'clock tonight Miss MacDonald." Umbridge spits, waving her wand and repairing the damage.

Once outside the classroom, Elsie leans against the window, watching as the raindrops run down the glass, mirroring her tears.

"Elsie?" George asks as her and Fred hurry over to her, last out from the class. Fred wraps his arms around her and places his chin on her head.

"I am so, so sorry." He whispers and she shakes her head, burying her face closer into his chest,

"We should have stuck up for you." George says angrily,

"No. You shouldn't have. You would have just got yourselves into even more trouble." She sniffs and Fred pulls away from her, smiling down into her face,

"I never thought in all my days I would hear you getting into detention." He says and she laughs shakily.

"I want to join the D.A. I'll come with you to the next meeting." She says proudly and they look at her astonished,

"What have you done to yourself?" George asks,

"What do you mean?" she asks bewildered,

"Well first detention and now joining an elicit group, it's like you're a completely different person." He says and she beams at him, jumping away from Fred as Umbridge leaves her classroom, not wanting to get into anymore trouble.

That evening Elsie leaves the common room to go for her detention with Umbridge. She knocks on the door and the Professor's fake sweet voice says,

"Enter."

"Good morning Professor Umbridge." Elsie says sitting down,

"Good morning Miss MacDonald. Now, I want you to use this quill," she says thrusting it into her hand, "And write the words, I must not tell lies."

"How many times Professor?" Elsie asks, her voice even.

"I would say, as many times as necessary." She replies and Elsie looks at her questioningly, but begins to write. After only a few words she feels a burning, painful sensation on her hand, and when she examines it, she finds her words carved into her skin.

"Is there anything the matter?" Umbridge asks her and Elsie shakes her head, gritting her teeth and writing again. After 10 or so times Umbridge turns to face her, picking up her hand silently and examining it,

"I think that will do, you may go." She says as Elsie stumbles from the room, her eyes dry. She cried for Cedric but she wasn't going to cry for this hag, and as she clutches her bleeding hand she races up to the common room.

The twins are there putting on a show by feeding people their Canary creams and Neville Longbottom stands with bright yellow feathers all over himself, once again.

"Canary Creams seven sickles!" George says as the first years hurry over with their money bags. Elsie notices that Hermione isnt among the crowd which must be why they are selling their merchandise now. She hurries up to her dormitory and wraps her hand in an old sock and heads back down to the bustle of the common room, she opens her book and finishes her last piece of homework when the twins drop into the seats next to her.

"What's with the sock?" George teases,

"Nothing." She says and as she folds her parchment away she cringes and Fred takes her hand and despite her protests, removes the sock to reveal the words carved into the back of her hand.

"Els." He says horrified, gaping at it as she pulls her hand back.

"Leave it." She whispers,

"Did she do that to you? Umbridge…" Fred says and she nods curtly,

"That's not right. That's sick."

"Go to McGonagall."

"Go to Dumbledore!"

"No! What power do they have over her? None, otherwise she wouldn't be here at all. I'm just going to have to control my temper." Elsie says and they continue to look at her sympathetically and she gets to her feet,

"I'm going to bed." She says picking up her things and hurrying up to the dormitory.

The first Gryffindor game of the season though, with Angelina as the new Captain and Ron the new keeper, Gryffindor won easily and Elsie ran down to the pitch with the crowd to congratulate their beating of Slytherin again. Fred is waiting for her, his arms wide and she wraps her arms around his neck tightly, kissing before George clears his throat and they break apart. Grinning Elsie hugs George as well,

"Well done, both of you. You were really good."

"Yeah, well everyone apart from Ron." Fred says watching as his younger brother slumps away dejectedly. George does an impression of him trying to reach for the Quaffle and then sighs,

"I'll save it for parties eh?" he asks and Elsie rolls her eyes. They turn around to find Malfoy saying,

"We couldn't fit in useless loser either- for his father you know." He says smugly smiling and Fred and George stiffen as Angelina grabs Fred's arm,

"Leave it! Leave it, Fred, let him yell, he's just sore he lost, the jumped up little-"

"But you like the Weasleys don't you, Potter?" Malfoy continues sneering, "Spend holidays there and everything, don't you? Can't see how you stand the stink, but I suppose when you've been dragged up by muggles, even the Weasleys' hovel smells ok." He continues and Alicia and Katie have to grab Fred as Harry grabs George, restraining them from jumping on him.

"Fred, George don't! Please!" Elsie begs them, "He's just a spoilt little swine, ignore him!" as Malfoy laughs loudly,

"Or perhaps you can remember what your mother's house stank like, Potter, and the Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it." Malfoy continues and Harry releases George and they both jump on Malfoy, all thought of wands forgotten, beating him up.

"GEORGE, HARRY STOP!" Elsie screams as Madam Hooch runs over and breaks up the fight.

"What do you think you're doing? I've never seen behaviour like it- back up to the castle, both of you, and straight to your head of house's office! Go! Now!" she screams at them as Elsie restrains Fred by pushing against his chest.

It turns out that not only Harry and George, but Fred as well have been banned from Quidditch by Umbridge, and Elsie leaves them to sulk with the other Gryffindor's, going to the owlery and writing to her father and Lupin, the only two people she knows from outside the castle that might be able to offer her some kind of advice on how to deal with Umbridge's tyranny. She heads back to the common room and almost everyone has went to bed, so she goes up to her own, listening to Angelina and Alicia discussing new trials for players.

Fred and George bring Elsie to the next D.A meeting, and despite breaking a new educational decree, she continues going for weeks and weeks. They decide to take a picture of them all, but instead of being in it, she takes it, having always hated the way she looked in pictures. They pinned it up beside the list of members, Elsie had written her name willingly at the bottom during her first meeting, and despite already being a dab hand in the subject, now she was spectacular and had learned a great deal more useful spells. The whole group of them soon become good friends, and Elsie grows very friendly with Luna, who is part of the D.A too, as well as Ginny and Hermione. The week before the Christmas holidays Harry announces that it will be the last one before the Christmas holidays, and his students give him a large round of applause before Elsie picks up her bags, looking expectantly at the twins,

"We'll see you back at the common room." Fred says and she nods at them both as they begin to talk with Harry about slipping Umbridge some of their trick sweets. Elsie waits for them in her favourite armchair by the window and when they appear, George takes the empty one opposite her and Fred sits on the arm rest beside her.

"You know, I think I've learned more from Harry than any other teacher." George says,

"What about Lupin!" Elsie proclaims upset,

"Oh, and him. And Moody, although he was a death eater in disguise…" he says tailing off and Elsie looks down at her feet sadly,

"Sorry." George says quickly and she looks back up smiling,

"No, it's alright. He did teach us some good spells." She admits,

"Hey, the first Hogsmeade weekend is next week. Do you want to go?" Fred asks her and she nods,

"Who else is coming?" she asks reading a nearby Daily Prophet,

"Just you and me." He says unembarrassed as George looks out the window uncomfortably,

"Alright." She replies grinning,

"Well. I'm off." Fred says kissing Elsie as George makes a new disgusted noise before they both head upstairs. She finishes her newspaper before heading to her own bed, feeling happy and exhausted.


	24. Romance Blossoming

Romance Blossoming 

Fred and George seem to be much more gloomy and yet chaotic than usual following their ban from Quidditch.

"I think it's totally unfair! Malfoy didn't get points deducted or anything!" Elsie says at lunch,

"Well when has Umbridge ever been fair?" George asks her and she sighs loudly,

"You're right. And Lupin and my father just say to not get on the wrong side of her, but it's easier for them to say, they're not having their lives taken over." She says stabbing her scrambled egg with unwanted venom.

"I love it when you're angry." Fred says and she grins at him, her cheeks turning red,

"Oh please, not when I'm eating." George interrupts, wanting to punch his twin in the face. The twins put all their efforts into selling even more Weasley products, and soon whole classes would be able to evade Umbridge using their skiving snackboxes by getting to go to the hospital wing by vomiting, fainting or coming out in boils. Fred and Elsie go to Hogsmeade together on a snowy, wintery day and as they walk into the little Wizarding village they see George with Lee, Angelina, Alicia and Katie. Angelina and George appear to be getting on well together, and it had reached Elsie's ears days ago about Angelina and Roger splitting up. 'Maybe they will get together' Elsie thinks to herself watching as the group head in to Zonkos.

"So, come on, where do you want to go?" Fred asks Elsie brightly,

"I don't mind, anywhere really." She says scratching subconsciously the scab on the back of her hand, from where Umbridge made her carve out 'I must not tell lies' into her own skin.

"Let's go into Zonkos, I need to get some more dungbombs." He says, wrapping an arm around her. Elsie's clothes were much less bright and clashing as usual. In fact, since Cedric's death her whole colourful attire was somewhat less vibrant, although it was still very different. She is wearing a pair of trousers, a reddy pink colour, with green patterned socks reaching up past her boots and a knitted grey jumper. Hawking sees her and Fred and shouts,

"Oi watch out for Weasel and Freak, you don't want to step in that mess." And her gang of Slytherin friends laugh as Elsie pulls Fred into Zonkos before he can go and pick a fight with Maria.

"What's wrong with you two?" George asks them as they find each other inside,

"Hawking. She's being a pain." Elsie explains as Fred examines some products,

"Oh, well just ignore her. I'll see you two later." He says as Lee shouts for him and he hurries out after his friend. After shopping in Zonkos and going into Honeyduke's, the pair head into the three broomsticks for Butterbeer.

"I've always loved this stuff." Elsie says swallowing refreshingly as Fred smiles at her sadly,

"What's wrong?" she asks him concerned, but he shakes his head,

"Nothing. Hey, we could go to the Hog's head, I bet the barman would sell us some Firewhisky?" he asks her and she looks at him coldly,

"I was joking, joking." He lies and she surveys him for a while before draining the last of her Butterbeer,

"Come on, the Slytherin's have just walked in." Elsie says getting to her feet and hurrying out the door, keeping her head down as she passes them, Fred just behind her.

"You shouldn't take the things they say you know. You should stick up for yourself more." Fred says as he wraps one arm around her,

"But, maybe Lupin is right, maybe I should just keep my head down until I leave. Less than a year now." She sighs sadly as they trudge back through the snow to the castle, "It's going to be sad saying goodbye to this place." She says looking up at the magnificent building.

"I know, but we can make the most of our time here." Fred says and she smiles up at him, as there is another gust of icy wind and she leans in closer to him. When they reach the entrance hall Peeves is dropping ink pellets on the pupils, and several land on her and Fred, ink splattering her clothes and faces,

"PEEVES!" McGonagall shouts, striding into the hall, "Get down here at once before I call the headmaster!" she shouts as Peeves floats around and Fred and Elsie laugh, running up to their common room.

That night, Elsie falls asleep on the couch in front of the roaring fire. But soon someone is shaking her awake. She opens her heavy eyelids and finds Fred standing over her,

"Fred? What are you doing?"

"I said we had to make the most of our time here didn't I?" he asks and he pulls her to her feet and pulls her out of the passageway, the fat lady shouting for them to return back inside. Neither of them notice George standing on the staircase in the common room, watching them jealously.

"Fred, where are we going? If we're found…" Elsie hisses as he leads her through a secret passageway which leads them to outside the castle and into the grounds. He unlocks a broom cupboard and pulls one out,

"Fred!" she exclaims as he mounts it,

"Well, are you coming?" he asks her expectantly, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Where?" she asks crossing her arms, angrily, but he doesn't answer, he just grins at her until she mounts behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist as he kicks off into the night. Elsie has never liked flying much, she preferred to keep her feet on the ground, but as Fred flies around the school, missing the battlements and towers and passing the glittering windows of the building before flying over the Dark forest, she laughs loudly as the wind tousles her hair and they start to descent towards the Black lake. They sit together by the water, hearing it lap over the stones and look at the stars,

"Is George alright?" Elsie asks him quizzically after a while and he looks at her annoyed,

"You're going to sit here and talk about George?"

"He's been very down lately."

"He'll be fine once he gets going with someone, you'll see. He's surrounded by couples everywhere now, I think he's just annoyed." Fred says and Elsie looks at him sadly, the moonlight dancing off the bracelet Fred gave her.

"Are you still wearing that?" he asks noticing it,

"I havent taken it off." She replies and he grins at her. "Fred, I want to join the Order, once I leave school, I mean."

"Really?" he asks her shocked and she nods seriously,

"Last time, Voldermort almost destroyed everything and everyone… I've already lost my best friend, I don't want to loose anyone else." She says and Fred leans forward and kisses her and she tangles her fingers through his red hair before they break apart.

"You're not going to loose anyone else, I promise."

"Then you won't do anything stupid?"

"Well I can't promise that." He jokes and she laughs,

"Come on, we should be getting back." She says, pulling him to his feet and they get back on the broom and ride to the castle.

Two days later, Elsie wakes up to find the twins, Ginny and Ron have all left, as well as Harry. She hunts for them but after a while she gives up and goes to find Hermione who she guesses will probably know where they've gone, and she is not disappointed.

"Mr Weasley is in St Mungo's…"

"Why?" she exclaims,

"Well..." she says looking around awkwardly, "He was attacked and badly injured."

"By who?" Elsie says appalled, sitting opposite her in the library,

"I'm not sure." She says, although not meeting her eyes, and Elsie guesses she isnt telling the truth, but she lets it go, figuring out it must have something to do with the Order.

"Ok, thanks Hermione!" she says, hurrying from the library and taking her books, parchment and quills upstairs to Myrtle's bathroom where she finishes off all her holiday homework in a few hours.

"Why do you come here?" Myrtle asks her rather rudely.

"Well I can stop if you want." Elsie replies taken aback,

"No. It's strange you still come here to see me, when no one even remembered me when I was alive." She says and the words sting, as Elsie wonders whether anyone would remember her if she died.

"Maybe I keep coming back here because we have a lot in common." Elsie replies looking up at Myrtle as she hovers feet off the ground,

"I would give anything to be alive again… or to just move on." She adds morosely before bursting into tears and disappearing down her toilet.

"Myrtle! Myrtle come back, I'm sorry, don't cry!" Elsie shouts down the toilet, but Myrtle doesn't resurface. She picks up her large pile of books and hazardously carries them down the corridor.

"Well, well, well, where have you been freak?" Malfoy asks her, and even though he is two years younger, she still is nervous around him.

"Watch your mouth Malfoy or I will put you in detention!" Elsie says but he points to his prefect badge,

"You can't put other prefects in detention don't you know? I'll take ten points from Gryffindor." He says,

"What for?!" she exclaims as his two thug friends crack their knuckles threateningly, she however thinks they look merely stupid.

"For being rude to your superiors you filthy little mudblood!"

"You can't dock points from other prefects." She replies through gritted teeth,

"Well people of the inquisitorial squad can."

"The what?"

"The inquisitorial squad freak, for people that agree with Umbridge's new regime." He replies and she smirks derisively at him before turning her back on him and walking away, her jaw still clenched.

Elsie doesn't hear any news from the twins for well into the holidays, but eventually Errol appears during mail time and she opens the letter quickly,

'Dear Elsie,

Dad's going to be alright! We will tell you what happened when we get back after the holidays.

Love from Fred and George'

It was highly unusual for them to be so cryptic, but at least they had contacted her. Elsie guessed it had something to do with the order so she wasn't upset. Most people that Christmas went home, and soon Elsie's only friend in the castle was Myrtle, and she visited her regularly, wishing she hadn't finished off her homework so early. She took to heading to the room of requirement and practising some spells before their lessons resumed, and for Christmas dinner, the teachers and the few remaining students all sat at the table together. This was extremely weird as Elsie sat between Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape.

"Ah, Miss MacDonald, let's pull a cracker." Dumbledore says offering her one and she takes it and pulls the other end to a colossal bang and a live Barn owl flies around her head before landing on the table in front of her, and she grins at it, stroking it's feathers.

"It seems to have taken a liking to you." Dumbledore says, "Now who would like some pigs in blankets?" he asks offering the dish of them to Snape who takes it, his lip curling slightly as Elsie puts on her bright orange wizards hat.

"Professor, I was wondering what will happen if I fail my N.E.W.T exams if I've already passed them already?" Elsie asks her headmaster as he places a flowery bonnet on top of his long grey hair,

"Well, if you've already passed them then I doubt you will fail them when you retake them." He says wisely, "Self confidence is a value that not many of us have nowadays, I believe we should all have a little more of it." He adds and Elsie looks down at her plate confusedly before tucking into her Turkey dinner.

It's very lonely being in a common room and dormitory by herself, but Elsie laps up the tranquillity, whilst silently missing the surprising transformation of Neville into a canary, or of Hermione and Ginny sitting by the fire, Fred and George playing with fireworks and selling their new amazing products or dropping dungbombs and stinking out the whole common room. She missed Angelina, Alicia and Katie and their talks about Quidditch and the hot guys in the school, she missed Harry and Ron and their jokes and laughter and their arguments, she missed Luna too, despite her not being in her house, she missed Cedric, and it pained her to know that she will never see his smiley, happy face again. But the person she missed most was Fred. She missed his lips on hers, his smile, his hand in hers and the way her stomach seemed to swell up like a balloon whenever he was near, or whenever he looked at her. So when her friends all returned, she was ecstatic to meet them, running at Fred the moment he set foot in the common room. She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him passionately, and when they break apart he looks rather perplexed,

"Well, it's good to see you too." He says and she grins at him,

"Oh, please…" George says striding up to the dormitory to unpack. Fred follows him and Elsie sits with Hermione and Ginny,

"Is your dad alright Ginny?" she asks her and she nods,

"Yes, he got let out a week into the holidays, he'll make a full recovery."

"Well that's good to hear." Elsie replies and when Fred and George come back downstairs they indicate for her to follow them and she gets up,

"I'll speak to you both later." Elsie says before dashing after them, and they tell her about Mr Weasleys attack. The full story.

"And Harry saw the whole thing happen?" Elsie asks stunned, "Was he having a vision or something?"

"We don't know, maybe. But it's more like he's telling the present, not the future." George says,

"Well thank heavens Harry did see it. Otherwise it sounds like your dad wouldn't have made it."

"I know, I think Harry thought you know who was possessing him or something for a while…"

"But Ginny told him that he couldn't have been."

"Yeah, that cheered him up a bit."

"Umbridge was furious when she found out you left right under her nose." Elsie tells them and they exchange sly glances,

"What?" she asks them suspiciously,

"Nothing, we've got some big things planned for Umbridge now." George says proudly,

"Let's just say she won't know what hit her." Fred says bitterly and she gives them both wary glances.

"I don't think you want to get on the wrong side of Umbridge."

"Says you, joining in secret organisations and getting detentions from her!" Fred teases,

"I'll have you know that I havent received a detention in months and it was my first ever one and…" she says but Fred kisses her gently,

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. I am very proud you have taken a leaf out of our book." He says and George nods beside him, although looking rather tense,

"That's exactly what I'm worrying about." Elsie replies, earning her two nudges in the ribs.


	25. Saying Goodbye

_**This is the chapter that I really don't want to write, but I have to. I don't think our characters will have a simple happily ever after, do you? And I don't own Harry Potter.**_

Saying Goodbye

Over the next few weeks, Elsie noticed a definite increase in the amount of time both the twins spent with Angelina, Alicia, Katie and Lee. She wasn't jealous though, but she knew why they did, and it pained her heart to know that she had to do the right thing and let Fred go. She prolonged it for as long as possible though, not wanting to give up the best thing in her life, so she kept herself busy, helping Hermione with S.P.E.W and doing her homework in the library or with Myrtle in the bathroom, but after one D.A lesson she waited for the twins in the corridor. They hurry up the stairs with strange ingredients in their arms,

"What are you doing?" she asks them,

"We're going to use these to experiment for our products." George says showing her the strange objects,

"Where did you get them from?"

"Potions." Fred says shrugging,

"You were stealing?" she exclaims stunned,

"Like you havent helped us steal before." George replies and she shoots him a cold look,

"Can I speak with you?" she asks Fred who nods and George turns to the fat lady and says,

"Niffler." And she swings open and he hurries inside.

"What's wrong, Els?" Fred asks her and she takes a deep breath,

"I don't think I can do this anymore." She says and he looks at her curiously, "It's not fair on anyone. I think it's time we ended this." She says and he sits down beside her on the floor,

"What do you mean? I really, really like you." He says urgently and she smiles sadly, tears springing to her eyes,

"But you don't love me." She states and he looks at her unable to say anything, "You love Angelina, and she loves you. And I don't want to get in the middle of you two. So…" she says tailing off,

"So." He replies upset and she gets to her feet slowly, "We'll still be friends though, won't we?" he asks her and she turns to face him,

"Of course. We've been through too much to not be." She says before she enters into the common room and hurries up to her dormitory.

But Fred doesn't ask Angelina out. Elsie decides it must be because he is either being considerate towards her, or that it is true that George likes her too. But soon she sits by herself not only in class, but at mealtimes and in the common room as well. The only thing keeping her going is her schoolwork and the D.A meetings, where although she shines, people there still forget her name. She spends more and more time sitting with Luna who is as lonely as she is, and she soon learns things about her that she would never have guessed.

"My mum died when I was nine."

"I'm so sorry. My mum died when I was little too." Elsie replies and Luna looks at her in surprise,

"I thought so. But I wasn't sure, you're a very sad person." She says and Elsie looks at her bewildered, "But you've gotten even sadder this year. You're less bright than before." She says and Elsie has realised this too. She no longer cared for her bright clothes that much, although occasionally she would have to wear something bright if she had nothing else to wear. At this moment in time she was wearing a brown knitted jumper, dark green skirt and bright blue tights.

"Why are you so sad?" Luna asks and Elsie looks down at her dirty shoes, "You shouldn't be. You'll see your mum and Cedric again one day." She adds before skipping away.

Elsie starts to revise for her exams months before the actual date, also trying to keep up with her masses of homework and D.A meetings, but it is one meeting where her and her friends practice the Patronus charm that something truly awful happens. She waves her wand and cries,

"Expecto Patronum!" and watches as her Hawk flies around her head, graceful and solitary as there is a loud thud from outside the room. She looses her concentration and it vanishes into thin air and she turns around to face the source of the noise. Spectacularly the large mirror spreading across one wall breaks and crashes to the ground in a million tiny pieces. She sees a small gap in the wall behind, and Harry and Nigel walk over to it and peer through it, before Harry drags Nigel away from it as the whole wall explodes, cascading rubble and dust at the members. Elsie gets back on her feet and when the dust clears she sees Umbridge, Filch and members of the Inquisitorial squad and… Cho Chang. Elsie looks at her stunned as the twins hurry over to Elsie, looking over her to make sure she's alright.

"Get them." Umbridge says and the members rush in and Goyle grabs Elsie's robes harshly and yanks her away,

"Ouch, Merlin's sake!" she says fiercely as he pulls her along,

"Shut your mouth, mudblood." He spits at her as they are taken away.

The D.A is over. Dumbledore took the blame and now he's gone, leaving Umbridge to fill the post as headmistress. All the members of the D.A are given detention, and Elsie again has to carve words into the back of her hand, as Umbridge sits in the headmaster's chair, watching them. Fred and George are furious, and as she sits silently with them, Lee, Angelina, Alicia and Katie they discuss how they are going to get Umbridge back. Elsie sits with her hand in Murtlap essence which relieves the stinging, staring into the fire, not really paying much attention.

"Elsie! Elsie!" Angelina says and she looks at her dazed, "Are you coming to bed?" she asks worriedly and Elsie nods, getting to her feet and following them up to the dormitory. The news that Dumbledore has left the school creates panic and a new wave of rule breaking occurs. Now that their beloved headmaster is no longer in charge everyone seems to want to make as much hassle for Umbridge as possible and she starts to give out detentions by whole classes, but this doesn't deter the students, and Fred and George tell Elsie over lunch their plans.

"We've decided we don't care about getting into trouble anymore." Fred says and she looks at them calculatingly,

"When have you ever cared?" she replies and they grin at her,

"Well, we've never been expelled have we?"

"We've always known when to draw the line."

"But now, that we have our premises, we don't care about getting into trouble."

"We only care about giving our new headmistress all the chaos she needs." They finish and Elsie looks at them worriedly,

"You both had better be careful. Umbridge…"

"Don't you get it Elsie? We don't care anymore." George says and they get to their feet,

"We're going to get ready. You wait and see." Fred says winking at her, and even now her heart is torn in two, she still feels her stomach swell up as she watches them go.

In her History of Magic class after lunch, in the silence she hears a loud whizz, and then a colossal bang and fireworks burst into the room through the door, fizzling and dancing, making words or shapes or just bursting into light. Professor Binns tries to stop them but it's too late, all the students run out into the halls with the rest of the school and follows the fireworks down the stairs where they watch as Umbridge gets chased along the great hall by a colossal dragon made from red and yellow and gold fire. It snaps its mouth shut and the enormity of it causes all the educational decrees to come crashing down to the ground, paper and glass shattering everywhere. Elsie watches as Fred and George fly past her on their broomsticks and into the courtyard outside and everyone pushes through and watches as they fly away, causing a trail of blazing light and laughter behind them. Elsie grins for the first time in weeks as she watches as her best friends disappear, the teachers looking as triumphant as the students.

A few days later Elsie receives a letter from Fred and George and she opens it quickly on Saturday morning,

'Dear Elsie,

We told you it would be cool! Is Umbridge getting lots of hassle now? How long did it take her to realise that trying to vanish the fireworks would cause them to multiply? We managed to get premises in Diagon Alley and our joke shop is starting to get set up, and we're still getting massive orders in. We hope you do well in your N.E.W.T's and we'll see you really soon!

From Fred and George'

Elsie gets up and heads to the owlery quickly, writing her letter before sending Margot and her barn owl from Christmas which she named Cedric to the twins' new address enclosed with the letter. She knew she didn't need to send both of them, but she didn't want them to feel like she had a favourite, which she didn't.

Over the few weeks, Elsie finishes her N.E.W.T's once again and believes they went as well, if not better than the ones the previous year. One day though she opened up her delivered Daily Prophet and read on the first page that Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna had went to the Ministry of Magic and fought of you know who, and that the Ministry had realised he was truly back. It also turned out that Lucius Malfoy was in fact a death eater, and now he and several others were in Azkaban. She looked over at the Slytherin table and saw Draco Malfoy looking angry and displeased and she smiled smugly. In fact, it also said that Sirius Black was not a death eater at all, and that he had been killed by Bellatrix Lestrange whilst helping fight off the death eaters. Elsie felt sad that this man had been slandered and wrongly accused of killing many innocent people, and then having his life taken from him days before the public found out that he was innocent. Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Neville were sitting at the Gryffindor table, but Harry was not among them and she wondered whether he was close with Sirius and had known that he was innocent all this time, but knew that no one would believe him, just like no one believed him that Voldermort was back. Umbridge had resigned, and Dumbledore had been reinstated and soon Elsie was packing her bags, ready to depart her home for the past seven years. She made her bed lovingly, but left the hangings open as though she would be back later to climb beneath the warm covers, even though this was a lie. She hugged Angelina, Alicia and Katie and bid goodbye to Hermione and Ginny, who hugged her unexpectedly too, and Elsie realised that although she wasn't widely known, there were some people that would miss her. She went to find Luna and said farewell to her as well,

"We'll see each other one day again, I expect." Luna says happily and Elsie nods,

"Hopefully. Goodbye Luna."

"Goodbye Elsie." She says skipping away down the corridor. Elsie went to find Myrtle in the bathrooms and she was even more upset than usual,

"You're the only one that comes to visit. Now you're going as well." She says and Elsie looks at her sadly,

"I'm sorry."

"No, you go! I'll be fine here by myself, I'm used to it." She snaps, turning her back on her,

"Goodbye Myrtle." Elsie says sadly, leaving the bathroom.

At the end of term feast Elsie looks at the many teachers she had got on well with and had known for the best years in her life. Professor Dumbledore was his usual cheery self and was deep in discussion with Professor McGonagall, the woman who Elsie had connected with most as they had so much in common. Then there was Professor Sprout and Flitwick who Elsie had always liked, Snape who she was glad to be rid of, but there was Hagrid at the end of the table, who she waved too and he waved back. In no time at all it seemed that Elsie was on the Hogwarts express for the last time, wondering whether she will ever be back perhaps, and wondering what she was going to do next with her life.


	26. Tonks and Training

6 Months Later~ Tonks and Tricks

Elsie gets up early in the morning and showers and changes into her clothes that have become much more sombre than usual, although they are still rather bizarre. Her trousers which are heavily patched up and her knitted purple shawl and her bright red boots. When she goes downstairs her father is sitting at the dining table,

"Good morning." He says,

"Good morning." She replies, getting herself some cereal and sitting at the table. It's strange how much she misses sitting in the great hall, helping herself to the large selection of foods and chatting with Fred and George. She wonders what is going on at Hogwarts right now.

"What are you doing today?" her father asks,

"I have some reports to hand in and then go for my poisons and antidotes test." She replies as her dad sighs loudly,

"There's been a family found dead in their home." He says and she bites her lip. There have been many deaths and attacks on muggles recently now that Voldermort has come out into the open more. She hasn't told her father that it is wizards killing people because she knows what he may say, that he wasn't surprised and that most of them are evil.

"That's awful. Dad, I won't be back until later on tonight."

"Alright."

"Don't cook anything for me, I'll get something at my friends."

"Alright." He replies and she jumps to her feet and heads out of the door before apparating to the Ministry of Magic entrance and following the other people into the public toilet and flushing myself in, appearing in one of the many fireplaces that line the walls.

I hurry to the lifts and up to the second floor and when I come out I bump into my new friend Tonks.

"Hey Tonks!" I say and she grins, her hair the colour of bubblegum,

"Hey! I'm sorry, I have to go to the department of mysteries. I'll speak to you in a minute." She says tripping over her own feet as she jumps into the lift. Elsie hurries along the corridor until she reaches Kingsley's cubicle.

"Hello Kinglsey." She says politely to the man in dark blue robes, one earring in and looking cool and laid back as usual.

"Hello Elsie, do you have that report for me?" he asks me and I nod, handing it to him,

"I hope you find it acceptable." Before whispering, "Are you going to the Burrow tonight?" and he nods,

"Thank you, Elsie. Is that all?" he asks and she nods,

"Yes, thank you sir."

"I hope you do well in your poisons and antidote test." Kingsley says smiling at her, and handing her a small packet of Bertie Bott's every flavour beans, and she beams at him before hurrying to her own smaller cubicle.

When she left Hogwarts she pursued her desire in being an Auror, and although she still has several years of training before she becomes a fully fledged Auror, she was enjoying her life already, and once she started getting paid, she would move out from her fathers house and start her own life. When she started she hit it off with Tonks and Kinglsey immediately, and they had the Order of the Phoenix in common as well which meant they saw each other outside of work too. Tonks appears again with her hair sticking up in a mess and her arms filled with rolls of parchment,

"Do you want to get a bit of experience done?" she asks her and Elsie jumps to her feet,

"Of course!"

"Well I need to read and decipher these, people down in law enforcement confiscated them from someone they think may be a death eater." Tonks explains as they head to her cubicle and they sit down and unroll them, and get to work.

"Are you going to the Burrow tonight?" Tonks hisses to her so that their colleagues cannot hear them,

"Yep. Arthur said that Dumbledore might make an appearance." Elsie says quietly back,

"I hope he does, he hasn't been to any in ages. He keeps disappearing off and doing secret things, no one knows where he goes. Scrimgeour has asked Kinglsey to put a few of us on his tail, but even then we don't know."

"Well it's Dumbledore though, it's probably something to do with stopping you know who." Elsie replies and Tonks nods as Elsie translates the first scroll,

"Nothing conclusive here, they're just talking about something from Borgin and Burke's."

"Sounds shady… you don't think they're talking about a dangerous object?" Tonks asks,

"Perhaps, maybe we should tell Kingsley about it." Elsie says but Tonks pats her on the arm,

"You go, you translated it. Get yourself some extra credit." She says and Elsie grins,

"Thanks, I'll tell him now!" she says jumping to her feet and walking the short distance down the corridor to where Kinglsey is standing discussing something with Arthur Weasley.

"Excuse me." Elsie says interrupting them,

"Hello there, Elsie." Arthur says to her smiling,

"Hello Arthur." She replies politely,

"Well hurry along with that report Weasley, the last one clogged up our investigation." Kingsley says curtly. Part of disguising the fact they were all part of the order together, the members had to pretend not to be that close, when really, at the meetings, they were very close friends. It was odd seeing Kinglsey acting rather unfriendly towards Mr Weasley, but Elsie knew the reason.

"Tonks and I have been deciphering some letters confiscated from a man the law enforcement picked up this morning, they talk about something being collected at Borgin and Burke's, it may be something dangerous, they think this guy has affiliations with the death eaters."

"Alright, I'll take some men and check it out." He replies, giving her a small wink before sweeping away. Ever since Elsie joined Auror training, her and Kingsley hit it off really well. He treated her like a younger sister, daughter even, and she looked up to him as a mentor and friend.

Elsie heads down to the testing rooms alone for no other Auror candidates were chosen that year and takes her poisons and antidotes test. She thinks she did well, she knew exactly which poison was which, but she blundered up on the antidote for Bloodroot potion, but she wrote down that you could easily use a Bezoar which would act as an antidote against it. And she heads up to her cubicle for lunch feeling lighter than usual, despite knowing she still had many more tests to do before she became a real Auror. Tonks pops her head around her door,

"Hey, how did it go?" she asks,

"Well, I think."

"I got so confused when I took the test. I got everything mixed up, even Death-cap Draught and Deflating Draught which is ridiculous." She says and Elsie laughs at her nervously. Despite being complete opposites, Tonks and Elsie got on surprisingly well, Tonks made Elsie laugh, which Elsie needed a lot more than usual what with everything going with Voldermort.

"So, is Lupin going to the meeting tonight?" she whispers and Tonks hair starts to turn an even brighter colour magically,

"I think so." She replies dropping her cup onto the floor. Elsie waves her wand casually and mends it for her,

"You are so clumsy, Tonks."

"I know, I almost failed my stealth and tracking test."

"I heard." Elsie replies and Tonks laughs before looking at her slyly,

"I heard that Fred and George are coming to the meeting." She says and Elsie's stomach knots inside of her,

"So?" she asks, her voice even.

"So, I heard that he and Angelina aren't together anymore."

"What does that have to do for me?" Elsie asks although her heart seems to lift slightly.

"No reason. Come on, let's finish these runes." Tonks says bringing out the scrolls again.

After a few hours of work it appears that apart from the maybe dangerous object in Borgin and Burke's there isnt really anymore information.

"I'll return these to the enforcement squad. I'll see you later." Tonks says getting to her feet with the scrolls and walking into the cubicle wall, she looks sheepishly at Elsie before leaving. There is a small tap on the cubicle door and Elsie looks up, her eyes widening as she sees Umbridge in her fluffy pink clothes standing there.

"Hem hem." She says unnecessarily,

"Good afternoon Madam undersecretary." Elsie says getting to her feet, despite the burning sensation inside of her to curse her.

"Good afternoon Miss MacDonald. I was wondering whether you know where Mr Shacklebolt is?" she asks, and Elsie looks at her curiously, Umbridge could have easily asked anyone else in the department, why ask her?

"No, I'm afraid not. Is there anything else Dolores?" Elsie asks her cautiously,

"There is in fact something else. I was wondering whether you have heard from Albus Dumbledore recently?" she asks and Elsie shakes her head, lying easily, having learned from the best, Fred and George.

"No, why would I?" she replies,

"Well, I heard differently."

"Then you must have been sadly misinformed. The last letter I received from Hogwarts was telling me of my N.E.W.T results." Elsie says and Umbridge scrutinises her intensely, and Elsie feels the back of her hand, where this hag made her carve sentence after sentence into the flesh, start to prickle. But she keeps her head cool, like she had learned in training.

"I heard you received top marks in your first Concealment test." She says her eyes narrowing,

"Yes, well…" Elsie says uncaringly. Umbridge gives her one last sweeping gaze before striding out of the cubicle. Elsie lets out a long breath and Williamson pops his head in wearing red robes, his long hair in a ponytail,

"What did Umbridge want Elsie?" compared to the others Williamson was rather young, coming to work at the Ministry in the same year as Tonks, and she smiles at him,

"Nothing. She just wanted to know where Kingsley was." She replies and he nods,

"Oh, alright." He says his head disappearing. Tonks appears a few minutes later and says,

"What's wrong?"

"Umbridge came round." Elsie replies significantly and Tonks bites her lip nervously,

"I'm going to go." She says raising her eyebrows and Elsie nods as she walks away. After five minutes Elsie follows the rest of her colleagues to the auditorium where she gets into a grate and appears in the toilet again before apparating to the Burrow. As she nears the front door she can tell she must be late as there is already a lot of noise and discussion from coming inside. She opens the door quietly and lets herself in, and everyone turns to look at her, sitting round the wooden table.

Kingsley, Molly, Arthur, Tonks, Mad Eye, Bill, Fleur, Lupin, Mundungus Fletcher and the twins are already at the table, tucking into a large pot of stew Mrs Weasley must have prepared. Elsie tries to avoid the twins glances, after having not seen them since they flew away from Hogwarts. She had heard that their joke shop was a huge success, but she hadn't been to visit yet.

"I'm sorry I'm late." Elsie says politely as Tonks pushes the chair next to her to indicate for her to sit down,

"Oh, it's fine Dumbledore isnt here yet either." Molly says kindly, passing her a bowl of steaming stew.

"Thanks Molly." Elsie says beaming, tucking into the rich meal as the twins continue to look at her amazed. Elsie has changed drastically since they last saw her. Her hair no longer hangs dull and lank, it's in a new style so that it is still as long, but now frames her face more, making her look younger. Her clothes almost matched and although her shoes were bright red, the rest of her clothes were a much more usual colour. Fred and George looked at her in awe, the boy that she loved, and the boy that secretly loved her, but she kept her eyes fixed on her bowl as the others talked for a while, but then Dumbledore swept into the room,

"Good evening." He says sitting down at the table,

"Now, as you all know, we are finding it difficult to recruit new members, and Voldermort is once again in the open." He says solemnly as the whole table hang on to his every word, "Hagrid couldn't gain the Giants' trust and now they are in league with Voldermort and soon it will be certain that he will infiltrate the Ministry." He says and he looks to Elsie, Kinglsey and Tonks. "That is why we need you three to try and keep a watchful eye open to see if there is any peculiar behaviour in people with easy access to the Minister."

"We've already noticed some signs of strange behaviour in Pius Thicknesse." Kinglsey says,

"Also, I have to say that if Voldermort takes over the Ministry, it is almost certain that Umbridge will work alongside them." Elsie says and Fred and George exchange gloomy looks. The rest of the meeting passes quickly, and Dumbledore announces that he will need members of the order to watch over the school when he is away and Elsie volunteers herself at once.

After the meeting Dumbledore leaves for Hogwarts quickly but everyone else remains as Molly announces,

"I have treacle tart in the oven!" Rain patters down and Elsie hears thunder and lightning overheard and she walk to the window and peers out at the storm. Fred joins her, standing next to her and she sighs,

"My mum told me once, that when it was sunny it meant that somewhere something good was happening, and if it was raining something bad was happening. It's been raining a lot lately, and a lot of bad things have been going on. So maybe my mum was right." I say and he looks at me and I force myself to look at him. He is no longer wearing hand knitted clothes, but a fine extravagant suit and looks taller than last time.

"Maybe." He says and she turns around and bumps into Mad-eye.

"How are you Elsie?" he asks her in his gruff voice,

"I'm fine thanks, you?"

"Alright. How are you finding training? It's challenging isnt it? What you've got to remember is to keep your eyes peeled; you can never know who is your enemy." He warns and she nods,

"Thanks." She says edging away awkwardly. She no longer felt weird under his gaze, and even though they were good friends and Elsie looked up to him like a mentor, some of his topics of conversation made her feel uneasy, especially the one where he told her all about the previous members' deaths.

Elsie talks with Arthur about the muggle post office before speaking with Lupin about his time underground with the werewolves,

"Well I am very glad you are doing it, Lupin. I couldn't."

"Well that's because you aren't a Werewolf, Els." George says from across the table and everyone laughs collectively and Elsie notices his suit, almost the exact same as his twins' but in a different colour.

"I am very proud of you too, Remus." Tonks says kissing his cheek and he smiles at her, his face paler than usual. Elsie then goes and helps Molly clean up but when Molly heads up the stairs to get something for Elsie, George walks into the kitchen.

"How are you?" he asks her and she jumps, pointing her wand at the pots and pans which begin to clean themselves,

"Don't sneak up on me."

"Like you've never done that to me before." He replies and she smiles,

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"I'm great, the joke shop's doing extremely well and Fred and I have been splashing out." George says indicating to his suit and Elsie laughs, "You've changed too." He says and she looks at him curiously,

"In what way?"

"Your clothes are less… bright."

"Oh. Well, I've been buying my own clothes lately." She replies and he nods smiling, putting his hands into his pockets.

"Elsie?" George asks after a pause and she looks up at him,

"Yes?"

"I-I've… well, I've missed you." He says and she grins,

"I've missed you too… and Hogwarts."

"Yeah… me too." He says walking over to the sink, extremely close to her and removing the pots that have started clogging up the sink.

"Whoops." Elsie says awkwardly, helping tidy up and when they finish, George is standing inches from her. She looks up into his eyes and he opens his mouth and says,

"Elsie…" but Mrs Weasley comes bursting in and they spring apart,

"Here it is! I found it in here for you, I thought you might like it?" she says holding out a small wooden box with carvings decorated on the surface too her.

"Thank you, Molly. But you shouldn't, Ginny might…"

"Ginny said she didn't want it, so I'm giving it to you." She says thrusting it out to her and tears prickle Elsie's eyes, wondering whether, if her mother alive, she would be handing her family heirlooms.

"Thank you." She says hoarsely. Soon Elsie leaves along with the other non- Weasley members, thinking about Fred and George and the encounter in the Kitchen, and what George was about to tell her.


	27. Plans and Friends

Plans and Friends

Over the next few weeks Elsie realises how nosy Umbridge is getting. She is always speaking with Kingsley, or else, following him around, and Tonks, being extremely clumsy, keeps bumping into her.

"We need to keep a low profile, she's catching on." Elsie warns Tonks one day as they pretend to be discussing a report,

"She's such an old wart. From what I hear she's almost as bad as some people locked up in Azkaban." Tonks whispers back,

"You have no idea." Elsie replies, tensing the hand where you can still see some scars on the back. Due to the increasing suspicion amongst them, Elsie, Tonks, Kinglsey and Arthur try and stay far away from each other as possible. Although on occasion, they have no choice but to speak to each other.

"MacDonald, can I speak with you?" Kingsley asks formally,

"I suppose so, but it will have to be quick. I'm practicing for my concealment and disguise test." She replies getting to her feet and following him to his office.

"I need you to look this over, I don't think it has been translated properly." He says before whispering, "Dumbledore needs you to keep watch at Hogwarts tonight."

"I suppose I could, but surely Williamson could translate it better than me."

"He is busy on that report for Savage, so this is down to you." He says giving me a small smile before opening his office door and I step outside and head back to my cubicle.

That night I return to my beloved school and meet McGonagall by the front gate, she is standing talking with Lupin.

"Ah, there you are Elsie." She says unlocking the gate and shutting it quickly as I enter, "Now, I will be patrolling the school as well, but just in case anything does happen it will be good to have some more pair of eyes on the lookout."

"Alright, where shall we be stationed?" Lupin asks her,

"Lupin if you can patrol the west side of the school and Elsie the upper corridors. Severus will take the east side and I will patrol upstairs as well. I'm sure everything else will be in order though, we havent had any trouble before." She says and after several long hours walking around the empty, silent corridors, her wand tip alight, she leaves the castle again, feeling strange to be walking down the grounds and to the front gate in the dead of night, she feels like she is breaking the rules, although she knows this is absurd.

"Elsie!" a voice calls and she turns around and finds Lupin jogging towards her, "Any trouble?" he asks and she shakes her head, "No, neither with me." He says,

"Do you think that Dumbledore is waiting for something to happen?" she asks and he sighs,

"I don't know. But I trust Dumbledore, and if he needs our help then I will not ask any questions, if he doesn't wish to tell us." He replies and she nods,

"When you get home can you ask Tonks about whether she needs a hand on firearm regulations? I think I know a bit more on the subject than her."

"Of course." Lupin says rather tightly,

"How are you too anyway?" Elsie asks carefully,

"Fine." He says curtly,

"You know, even though you think she could do better, she loves you, and so she couldn't." Elsie says and he looks at her stunned for a moment, before she turns and apparates to her father's house.

Elsie's Auror training is vigorous, and along with her Order meetings and duties, she finds it very hard to fit anything else in, but one Saturday morning she receives an owl from the twins.

'Dear Elsie,

We were wondering when you are going to visit our joke shop? Things are quieter at the moment because most people are at Hogwarts, in case you want to drop by. We have so much to tell you!

From Fred and George'

"Who's the letter from?" her father asks her,

"Some friends." She says airily,

"You should go out sometime." He tells her and she sighs as Margot flies from the window.

"I don't think…"

"Go out. You're always inside, it's not good for you."

"But father…"

"Go, Elsie." He orders and she gets to her feet and hurries out of the door, apparating to Diagon Alley. Her face falls as she takes in the sight before her eyes. Gone are the vibrant window displays, the cheery people and the bustle and laughter. Instead, wanted posters cover the windows and most shops have shut down. Ollivander's is completely desolate, it's windows broken.

"Oh no…" Elsie sighs sadly, remembering the time she first held her wand, so much has changed since then. She looks around, Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour is closed as well, from the looks of it it looks as though he's been dragged off too. That's when Elsie rounds the corner and among the black and grey of the other stores, Fred and George's stands out like an eyesore. It's bright red and there are flashing and bangs coming from inside, and even with most students at school, there is still quite a large crowd inside. Elsie opens the door and examines the Pygmy Puffs, the love potions, the skiving snackboxes and the Peruvian instant darkness powder. She is quite impressed by the amount of advanced magic the twins must have used, and silently wonders how they didn't get more O.W.L's.

"We didn't expect you today!" Fred says appearing beside her and she doesn't jump as she normally would, but spins around quickly to face them.

"I see your Auror training has paid off?" George asks grinning and she smiles at them,

"I suppose. This place is unbelievable. How are you doing it? Half the Alley is shut down." She says looking around the eye watering room,

"I guess people are needing a laugh more than usual." Fred replies and she nods,

"Most likely." She says and then she hits them across the head,

"Ouch! What was that for?" George asks her angrily,

"This magic is quite advanced, how come you didn't get more O.W.L's? You could have easily got them! You weren't revising were you?" she asks them sternly and they beam at her,

"Despite the fact you are incredibly annoying, it's strange how much we've missed you." Fred says and she beams,

"Thanks. I've missed you too." She says hugging the pair of them lightly, missing the days before all of this, when they were sitting in the great hall chatting, or Elsie badgered them about their homework in the common room.

"Take what you want." George says and Elsie looks at them stunned,

"No! I can't do that!" she replies hastily,

"You were the one that helped us catch up on our homework and help get ingredients." Fred says in agreement with George,

"But-"

"Take what you want." George repeats, placing a piece of instant darkness powder into her hand, when they turn their backs Elsie hurriedly puts it back on the shelf, unable to take without paying, and knowing full well they wouldn't accept her money. She heads towards the shop door but Fred apparates in front of her, blocking her path,

"Oh no you don't, you've only just got here!" he says leading her back towards the shop counter,

"Yeah, you can help sell." George says pointing to a group of young children by the snackboxes.

"I don't know…" she says but the twins give her identical pleading looks and she sighs, "Alright." She says walking over to the group of children and trying to sell their merchandise, which doesn't take that long and they are soon paying.

"You have a knack for selling." Fred praises,

"They didn't need much convincing." She says ruefully, "I should really be going…" she says looking towards the door and they look at her sadly,

"Do you want to be away from us that quickly?" George asks and she laughs,

"No, I have tests to revise for." She replies and they roll their arms,

"Alright, but we'll see you again soon?" Fred asks and she nods, exiting the shop and apparating back to her home.

One night, several weeks after her visit to the twins joke shop, Elsie sits by the fire with her father who is reading a newspaper as usual.

"Another family have been found dead, suspected gas leak." He says and she sighs, knowing that it probably wasn't a gas leak.

"Oh." Is all she says and her father slams his paper down on the coffee table,

"What is going on, Elsie? Ever since you finished school you have changed so much. You hardly talk, you hardly eat, and all you say about these deaths is 'Oh'. What's going on, has it something to do with your lot?"

"My lot! My lot!" Elsie says firing up at once and jumping to her feet, "Whenever something bad happens you guess it's 'my lot' but they're not my lot! I have nothing to do with them! There are bad witches and wizards in my world as much as there are bad men and women in yours, but that doesn't mean they are automatically 'my lot'!" she cries and her father gets to his feet,

"So it is witches and wizards doing it?"

"Yes, but don't you understand? There are bad people in every walk of life, just as there is good."

"And that's what you do isnt it? You stop the bad ones?"

"Yes, well when I pass my final test. But I don't think I will be able to work there for much longer."

"What makes you say that?" he asks curiously,

"Soon the bad people will take over the Ministry, and then I will have to leave. I don't know where I will go, I just know that it won't be safe for me here anymore."

"I won't let you leave!" her father snarls,

"You can't stop me!" she replies,

"Oh yes I will! You think you can just disappear, what if you get killed? I don't want to loose you as well as your mother!"

"But father, you don't understand!" she says, knowing one reason she has to leave will be to protect him from the death eaters,

"No you don't understand! I will not have you risking your neck just like your mother! I know full well what will happen! How do you think I will feel standing over your grave, knowing I did nothing to stop you!"

"I have to father, but not just yet." She says trying to calm him down,

"No? You think you can just stay and wait for the signal? Well you can't! Get out now! Go on! Leave, just like you want to!" he shouts and he pushes her out of the front door, locking the door behind her. Although she could easily unlock it, she is too upset to even want to go back inside, and as the cold Scottish wind blows through her, she apparates to Diagon Alley, knocking on the Weasleys Wizard Wheezes front door, and Fred opens the door after several minutes of her rapping hard on the knocker.

"Elsie? What's wrong?" he asks yawning, but when he sees the state she's in, tears leaking glazing her face,

"I had a fight with my father." She says and Fred pulls her inside looking concerned. George comes padding down the stairs in his boxers, a dressing gown on his shoulders,

"Bloody hell!" he says covering himself up and Elsie sniffs and wipes her eyes,

"Hello Georgie." She says sadly,

"What's wrong?" he asks bewildered,

"My father's thrown me out." She explains to them both,

"That old sod!" Fred exclaims,

"Fred!" Elsie shouts,

"What?" he replies, "He's thrown his own daughter out!" he says indignantly,

"He's still my father!"

"Why did he do it?"

"Because I told him that soon I will have to leave." She replies and the twins look at her appalled,

"What do you mean?" George asks quickly,

"Well, you've heard the meetings. Dumbledore says it's just a matter of time before the Ministry is taken over, and when it is I won't be safe. I'm a muggle born remember?" she asks them and they look at her stunned but determined.

"You can stay here, we'll hide you here!" George says strongly,

"Yeah, we won't let the death eaters get you!" Fred says and she shakes her head,

"No! If I get found not only will I get thrown in Azkaban but you too! I won't let you risk your lives for me!" she says fiercely,

"You won't have a choice!" Fred says determinedly and she sighs,

"I don't." she says looking into his eyes for a moment, knowing that she has no choice but to disappear.

"Stay here for tonight, won't you?" George asks her and she smiles,

"Thanks."

They spend several minutes deciding who's going to sleep where in the flat upstairs,

"You can sleep in my bed." Fred says and she shakes her head,

"I'm not taking anyone's bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

"You will not!" George says exasperated, and after many arguments, they all end up sleeping on blankets on the floor, none of them wanting to sleep in beds if one person was left out. Elsie is strongly reminded of the time the whole school slept in the great hall when Sirius Black entered the castle. Tonks had told Elsie herself about how she and Sirius were actually cousins, and that he had been very brave, and a very loyal friend and member of the order, despite being wrongly accused of killing many people. Elsie is almost on the brink of sleep when, in his sleep, Fred wraps one arm around her waist, and even though she knows deep down he will always prefer Angelina, she still cannot help but notice her heart flutter inside of her.


	28. Dark and Difficult Times

Dark and Difficult Times

The next morning when Elsie wakes, the twins are already downstairs opening up their shop. She dresses in her clothes from the previous day and goes downstairs to them.

"Morning." George says winking at her and she looks at him curiously,

"Good morning." She replies as he continues to smile at her, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason." He replies quickly. Shortly before lunch Angelina enters the shop, and smiles at Elsie,

"Hullo Elsie!" but she hurries past her and to Fred who turns looking dazed as she hugs him tightly, "Oh Fred, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean what I said!" she says and Elsie's heart and stomach vanishes, and she keeps her eyes on the floor as she mutters to George,

"I'm going to go home. I'll see you later." She says leaving the shop but before she can even pass the shop, George comes running after her.

"Elsie! Elsie, wait!" he says and she rounds on him, looking exasperated, "Stay." He says,

"What, why? What is there to stay for?" she asks him dejectedly,

"Me." He says nervously and she looks at him curiously,

"What?" she asks quietly,

"Look, I know you will always prefer Fred, but I love you." He says and she looks at him in disbelief, "I have for a long time now, and I havent said anything because I know that you don't feel the same, but if you ever should, then… you know." He finishes and she looks up at him horrified.

"I can't George. This isnt fair on you."

"I don't think it's fair on anyone." He replies grimly and she laughs madly,

"I think you're right." She replies, smoothing his ginger hair before apparating home.

"What do you think you're doing back here?" her father asks her as she opens the front door,

"This is where I live." She replies coldly, "Listen, father. You need to understand why I must leave. The truth is, these bad wizards and witches are extremely prejudiced. They don't like people who aren't from wizarding families. They'll come for me, they may kill me, they may kill you too." She says and her father's eyes go wide as galleons.

"I won't let them."

"Father, you cannot stop them. That's why I must go." She says and he shakes his head sadly in denial,

"I won't loose my only daughter."

"You won't! I'll come back when this is over. I promise." She says and her father wraps his arms around her, something he hasn't done since she was a child. The feeling is unusual and yet, Elsie realises how much she's missed it, and she wraps her arms around her dad tightly, relishing the feeling of having a parent in her life again. That night, Elsie has a terrible dream. She dreams of Cedric and at first it is happy, all the happy memories of her and him, sitting in class, walking through the grounds, smiling and laughing joyfully. Then she sees him lying on the ground, pale and glassy eyed, Voldermort standing over his dead body, Elsie screams and jerks awake. Looking around her bedroom, the wallpaper peeling from the walls, the paintwork chipped on her furniture. She looks at the photograph beside her bed of her and Cedric waving out of the frame. The only one she has of her best friend. She hasn't been thinking about him that lot recently, and she wonders what has changed, possibly the incoming danger she is in. She lies back in bed, but cannot fall asleep and tosses and turns for hours, thinking about what she had overheard from the conversation between Arthur and Mr Diggory at the Ministry.

"Have you seen Elsie MacDonald?" Arthur asked him and she hid behind a filing cabinet,

"No. You know my- Cedric, told me all about her. They were best friends, if he hadn't started dating Cho I think- I think they might have… he liked her a lot." He had said, and Elsie had turned and fled from the scene.

The next day, as Elsie sits with Tonks in her cubicle, she sits and stares at the map with pins dotted around the country, where sightings of Voldermort have been reported.

"Are you alright, Elsie?" Tonks asks her as he nose returns from a Lion's snout to it's usual shape. "You always laugh at my animal noses." She says and Elsie snaps out of her stupor,

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" she asks and Tonks sighs,

"I said that Remus and I are going to the Weasleys for Christmas, are you coming?" she asks and Elsie sighs,

"I don't know…"

"Well, Molly asked me to ask you. I think she's hoping for you and George to get together so you can really be part of the family!" she says laughing and Elsie feels her face burn and she spins her wand around nervously in her hand,

"Well, are you going to come? Molly and Arthur want you to." She says and Elsie shrugs her shoulders,

"It depends, I think my father has some plans. I might turn up later on though." Elsie says and Tonks looks at her curiously, "How are you and Lupin anyway?" Elsie continues,

"We're fine. The cycle is coming up soon though, so I've went and got some Wolfsbane potion." She says sadly waving her wand casually and causing all the papers on her desk to fly away,

"Tonks!" Elsie exclaims waving her wand and piling them all back up again,

"Sorry, sorry." She says sheepishly.

On Christmas day Elsie wraps up the presents for her friends, after spending the day with her father, Elsie is going to go to the Burrow for the evening, which her father is pleased about.

"It's nice you have friends." He says smiling over Christmas dinner, and although it isnt nearly as nice as the ones she used to enjoy at Hogwarts, it's nice to spend Christmas with her father. She doesn't get much from him though, he simply put some money into her account in Gringotts. That night she picks up her bright green bag which she has put an undetectable extension charm on and easily gets the many parcels for her friends inside before apparating to the edge of the Burrow and entering the invisible shield surrounding it. Her mouth falls open in shock as she sees the amazing building in flames.

"No!" she gasps, running along the path towards it and joining the Weasleys, Tonks, Remus and Harry Potter as they all stare up at it in shock, silent tears tracing Molly's cheeks. The twins don't even look at Elsie, their eyes are fixed on their burning home.

"Aguamenti!" Elsie cries, raising her want to try and stem the fire, and following her example, Arthur, Lupin and Tonks follow suit until the fire is all put out.

"Reparo!" Elsie cries pointing her wand at the building and soon it is back to normal.

"Th-thank you, dear." Molly says hugging her and patting her clumsily on the cheek, "Do come in and get something to drink or eat." She says and Elsie follows her into the kitchen, taking a glass of mulled mead and a mince pie.

"What happened?" Elsie asks the twins as she sits beside them, everyone else busy somewhere else.

"Bellatrix Lestrange and some other death eaters appeared, Harry chased after her and then…"

"And then they attacked the house." George replies sadly,

"How did they get into the enchantments?" Elsie asks stunned,

"I don't think they did. I think they were just outside and knew Harry would go after Bellatrix. She did kill Sirius after all." Fred says bitterly,

"It's awful how they can get so close to you! You're lucky you weren't killed!" she says hugging the pair of them, before releasing them looking awkward.

"Well, we're all safe." Ginny says slumping into the room,

"Which is a good thing." Elsie says beaming at her and Ginny smiles, sitting beside her.

"What's been going on at the Ministry then?" Ginny asks her interestedly,

"Well, I've been doing my tests, but Umbridge is sticking her nose in my business more than usual. Also, Scrimgeour keeps writing to Dumbledore constantly, I guess he wants to know where he goes." Elsie tells them, "They're also still trying to hush up that more people have escaped from Azkaban." Elsie whispers and they look at her stunned,

"More people have escaped?" Ginny asks horrified,

"Yes, didn't you know?" Elsie asks them and they shake their heads, "Oh, well it is recent news." She says and Ginny gets to her feet,

"Anyone else want a drink?" she asks the three and they shake their heads as she heads to the kitchen.

"It's because the Dementors have left Azkaban isnt it?" Fred asks her and she nods,

"No matter how much I hate them, they did keep the prisoners inside… now they're on Voldermort's side and I hate to think what they'll do next." Elsie says anxiously,

"It'll be alright, as long as we have Dumbledore we'll be safe." George says comfortingly as Elsie plays at her bracelets up her arms.

"We're off now. Elsie, I'll see you at work." Tonks says, arm in arm with Remus,

"Alright, bye!" Elsie calls to the pair as they go.

"Guess who else is all loved up?" Ginny asks returning to the living room,

"Who?" Elsie replies,

"Bill and Fleur have set the date for their wedding."

"Really? Why didn't you tell me they're getting married?" Elsie says turning to face the twins angrily,

"It must have slipped our minds." George says sarcastically,

"Fleur's driving mum demented, she hates her." Ginny says and Elsie clicks her tongue. Fleur Delacour, marrying Bill Weasley. Fleur who had been in the maze the night Cedric died.

"I should be getting back, it's very late." Elsie says getting to her feet,

"Oh, won't you stay?" Molly asks her and Elsie looks around awkwardly,

"Well…"

"You can share with me!" Ginny volunteers excitedly,

"Yes, it's a wonderful idea!" Mrs Weasley says beaming and Elsie returns the smile heartedly,

"Good luck." The twins say to her,

"What do you mean?"

"Ginny's a snorer." Fred teases.

It turns out that Ginny doesn't snore, the twins were just making it up and the next day she gets up and changes into some spare clothes in her bag and then helps de-gnome the garden before showing Arthur the correct use of a battery. She finds it strange being alone with the twins, knowing that George likes her and that Fred is dating Angelina again, although Ginny admits she doesn't know how long it will last for.

"They've been seeing each other off and on for ages. The only other person he's dated it… well you." Ginny tells her as they hang around in her bedroom,

"Oh." Elsie says uncomfortably before asking, "So, what about you and Harry?" she asks her, noticing the way the pair of them look at each other and how much time they are spending with each other.

"What do you mean?"

"You like him and he likes you so…" she says and Ginny's face almost turns as red as her hair,

"Do you think so?" she asks,

"I do. But you'd better get a move on, you don't know when things are going to change for the worst." She says pessimistically and Ginny looks at her sadly.

Months pass, Elsie gets along by keeping up with the reports she is asked to do and helping her colleagues to earn experience within the department, whilst looking out for trouble. She goes to the Order of the Phoenix meetings which become more and more scarce, but one day, and urgent one is called and they all meet at the Burrow.

"What's happened?" Elsie asks breathlessly, noticing the wet eyes and sorrowful faces of her friends.

"Dumbledore's dead." Mad-eye states, and for the first time ever, Elsie notices a touch of sadness in his voice. She knows that Alastor and Dumbledore have been friends for many years. Everyone is looking pale and traumatised, and as tears spring into Elsie's eyes she simply says,

"How?" because how could Dumbledore die? The man that she always had thought would be safe and alive and fighting. Mad and powerful. How could he have died when the whole wizarding world needed him. To protect them all and to lead them.

"Snape." Lupin says and Elsie looks at him horrified,

"Snape? But Dumbledore trusted him, always."

"Well he was wrong wasn't he?" Mad-eye says bitterly, "I always knew, death eaters never change their ways."

"Dumbledore always said he had an iron clad reason to trust Snape." Lupin says angrily,

"He deceived us all." Elsie says bitterly, slumping into an empty chair,

"You all know what this means though, don't you? With Dumbledore gone we must protect Harry, and do everything we can to try and stop Voldermort." Mad-eye announces,

"Mad-eye, you will assume leadership." Kingsley states and nobody contradicts him and one by one the order members leave.

Else turns to Fred and George as she gets to her feet,

"You promise me you'll be careful." She says hoarsely and they look up at her sadly,

"You aren't going yet are you?"

"No, there are still things to do for the Order, and besides, the Ministry hasn't been taken over yet." She says mournfully, her bottom lip quivering. Fred jumps to his feet and hugs her tightly, and she wraps her arms around his neck, realising how everything will change now. The twins offer her no words of comfort, for they all now what will surely be coming, but she releases Fred and then hugs George tightly,

"One day, this will all be over. You know that." George asks and she nods,

"One way or another." She replies and they nod as she turns and leaves the Burrow.


	29. The Fall

_**Hi guys, this fanfiction is almost over! A few more chapters to go now! Please review and whatnot! Thanks for reading and I don't own Harry Potter.**_

The Fall

The Order of the Phoenix sit around the dining table in the Burrow, deep in discussion.

"We should move Potter soon." Mad-eye announces,

"The day before he turns 17?" Tonks asks,

"No, they'll be expecting that." Elsie cuts in,

"I agree. We should move Harry sooner." Lupin agrees,

"Arthur, Kinglsey, Elsie, Nymphadora…"

"For the last time don't call me Nymphadora!" Tonks barks at her as Moody continues,

"You should all feed false information to Scrimgeour about us moving Harry the day before his birthday."

"We can do that. They've already infiltrated higher up the ranks, it will be easy for them to overhear." Kingsley says,

"Now, how will we get him out of their?" Mad-eye asks,

"Well we can't use magic." Arthur adds,

"Then what shall we use instead?" Molly replies,

"Non-magical objects that the trace can't detect." Elsie adds,

"Such as?"

"Brooms, Thestrals, things like that." Fred says and Mad-eye nods,

"That sounds like a good idea. But this is the hard part, how will we disguise Harry?" Molly asks,

"We don't need to disguise him, just us." Tonks says,

"Easy for you to say." Elsie whispers to her and she grins,

"We can use Polyjuice potion and go in pairs. Someone from each pair looking like Harry, then if there are death eaters swooping around the place, which I highly anticipate, then they won't know which Harry Potter is the real one."

"That sounds like a plan, but who will volunteer?" Moody asks looking around the table,

"I'm sure I can take time off looking after the Prime Minister to help." Kingsley says,

"We'll come." Lupin and Tonks say,

"So will I." Mr Weasley volunteers as Mrs Weasley looks at him nervously,

"Us too." The twins say,

"No you will not!" she barks at them,

"We're of age, you can't stop us." Fred replies.

"I'll help." Elsie says willingly and the twins round on her,

"No you will not!" Fred says angrily,

"You can't stop me!" Elsie hisses,

"She's being ridiculous, we won't let you!" George says and she crosses her arms over her chest,

"I want to help! I am more than able too!"

"Don't listen to her." Fred says to Moody as Elsie starts to protest.

"Right, if everyone here apart from Miss MacDonald and Molly joins in… and Dung and Ron and Hermione, Hagrid will too… then I am sure we're have enough." Mad-eye says and with a glowering look at the twins, Elsie gets to her feet and storms out of the Burrow, apparating to her house.

Elsie waits on tenterhooks, unable to sleep the night the Order goes and gets Harry and she sits at the window in her bedroom, waiting for news. In the very early hours, Elsie not feeling a little bit tired, Margot appears at her window, a letter hanging from her beak.

"What's happened, Margot?" she asks her owl, taking it from her and opening the envelope furiously.

'Dear Elsie,

We've got Harry at the Burrow. Gred's been hurt. Stay where you are.

From Forge.'

It finishes and Elsie gets to her feet quickly. If George has been hurt then she is definitely not staying where she is. She hurriedly scribbles a letter with her quill telling her dad where she is before apparating to the Burrow. She runs up the garden path and towards the rickety looking building that is very crooked and she throws open the front door, finding everyone sitting around with glasses of Firewhisky in hand. She doesn't think why this is, her only thoughts are on George, who is lying on the sofa, his ear missing and blood tricking down his face.

"George." She whispers, dropping to her knees beside him, but he is awake and looking perky,

"Who are you?" he asks and her mouth falls open in horror, but then he grins, "I'm only joking, Els." He says and she punches him in the stomach,

"That's not funny." She snaps angrily, but inside deeply relieved he is safe.

"Elsie," Fred whispers to her and she turns to face him, wondering why he looks so upset, "Mad-eye's dead." He states,

"No." she says shaking her head in denial,

"Dung disapparated. Mad-eye tried to stop him but he was hit by a curse and fell off his broom." Bill says as Fleur cries silently beside him. Not Moody. Now they had lost both the toughest, strongest, most powerful leaders. What chance did they have now? Elsie goes to comfort Tonks who is deeply upset and Elsie knows that the pair were quite good friends,

"Well at least we got Harry from there safely. That's what Mad-eye would have wanted." She says and Lupin gets to his feet,

"I think I should go and recover his body." He says,

"I'll come too." Bill says getting up and they leave. Elsie goes and sits on the floor in front of the sofa that George is lying on and Fred sits beside her. Nobody speaks, and one by one, Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Mrs Weasley head silently to bed, leaving the others sitting alone.

"I should be going." Tonks says and Elsie tries to get to her feet as well, but Fred and George take her hands and pull her back down to a sitting position.

"You can stay here for tonight." Arthur says and she smiles slightly at him as the other order members leave.

"Does it hurt?" Elsie asks George sadly and he gives her a sarcastic look,

"Well it hardly is the best feeling in the world." He replies and she smiles sadly at him,

"I suppose it can't be magically repaired? It's been cursed by dark magic which must be very difficult to repair." She states and the twins roll their eyes at her,

"Do my ear a favour and shut up." George groans and Fred laughs and she hits both their arms.

"I don't think I can stay. My father will be worrying about me." Elsie says getting to her feet and the twins look at her sadly,

"Will you be safe?" Fred asks her quickly,

"I can look after myself." She says raising her eyebrows at them both, she smiles down at them. "I'll see you at the wedding. Look after yourselves." She warns them both before heading outside and disapparating.

At work the next day Tonks and Elsie are very solemn, and although Elsie tries to hide it, there is no way to not notice the sad shade of black of Tonks' hair.

"Are you alright, Elsie?" Williamson asks her as they walk past Umbridge's office on the first floor and she stops, staring at the new object in her door. It's mad-eye's magical blue eye, whizzing around. Elsie continues on her way, repulsed and angry, wanting greatly to find Umbridge and hex her.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"You don't seem it. You look upset about something, if you want to…"

"I said I'm fine Williamson!" she snaps at him, leaving him looking stunned and rather hurt,

"Alright. Calm down, I-I'll leave you to it." He says before turning and walking away in the opposite direction. Elsie bumps into Kingsley later that day and he pulls her to one side,

"You have to calm down." He says calmly,

"Calm down? How can I calm down when Umbridge has got Mad-eye's eye stuck to her door? That must mean they have the body. That's why Lupin and Bill couldn't find him."

"You need to keep your head down, people are starting to get suspicious."

"It's just… hard too." She says sadly and he nods,

"I know, but you… you really need to get this report done." He says changing in mid sentence as Percy Weasley walks past. Elsie looks at him and smiles but he pompously walks past without glancing at her.

"I take it he still isnt speaking to Molly and Arthur?" Shacklebolt asks and Elsie nods sadly,

"Fred and George have some ghastly new names for him." she says,

"Kingsley, come!" Scrimgeour calls and Kingsley darts away after him.

On the date of Bill and Fleur's wedding, Elsie changes into her new dress for the occasion but waits until her father gets home from work before she goes, knowing that she is rather late. The ceremony has finished but the party is in full swing, and Elsie heads towards the large tent in the garden where music and laughter and chatter was coming from and tentatively entered. She saw Remus and Tonks dancing nearby and Arthur and Molly too, but in the centre of the attention Bill and Fleur were twirling around looking adoringly at one another. Elsie bumps into Luna whom she hasn't seen in a year and Elsie realises how much she missed this airy girl.

"Luna!" she says and they hug quickly, "How are you?"

"Very well thank you, I was bitten by a gnome." She says showing her cut, "Gnome saliva is very beneficial. I was upset to hear you joined the Ministry." She says becoming serious,

"Oh really? Why?" Elsie asks puzzled,

"Well it is widely known that the Aurors are trying to take over the Ministry with gum disease."

"I can assure you Luna that that is not happening." Elsie replies,

"Well, it may be going on behind your back," she says matter of factly and Elsie grins at her, "I'll see you later." Luna adds hurrying after a man with straggly blonde hair and wearing yellow too, and Elsie guesses he is Luna's father.

"Elsie!" a voice calls and Tonks hurries to her, dragging Remus along too, "It's so good to see you!"

"It's great to see you too!" she says to the pair of them as Tonks hugs her tightly before releasing her,

"We've got great news! Remus and I are expecting a baby!" she exclaims and Elsie beams at the pair of them,

"That's such good news! Congratulations to both of you!"

"Thanks. Come on, we should congratulate the happy couple." Lupin says and they walk away and Hermione comes hurtling out of nowhere.

"Elsie, it's great to see you again!"

"You too. It looks like you have an admirer." Elsie replies nodding towards Viktor Krum, Hermione turns bright red,

"Go on." Elsie says pushing her towards him and they start talking.

Fred and George are sitting at a table nearby, and when Fred catches sight of Elsie looking around the space, he realises just how much she has changed. She is no longer that highly bossy small, plain, boring first year anymore but a fully grown woman. Her hair is up in a pretty style and her black dress glitters like little stars are encrusted into it. Without realising it Fred has gotten to his feet and is standing in front of Elsie who grins.

"Fred." She says and she wraps her arms around his neck without thinking, pulling away again and looking around in case Angelina is present, but she can't see her and she stops worrying.

"How are you? How's the glamorous position of an Auror suiting you?" he teases and she shakes her head at him exasperated,

"I'm fine and it's suiting me well. How are you and your joke shop?"

"All doing well, considering."

"Considering what?" Elsie asks curiously,

"Considering mum going bonkers over this wedding." He replies and she smiles at him, "Come on, let's dance." He says pulling her onto the dance floor and spinning her under his arm and she laughs, trying to pull away,

"Fred, stop." She pleads as he continues to dance around with her. When the song finishes George comes over and joins them as they stop dancing madly around,

"Hey George." Elsie beams at him,

"Hi." He replies and she puts a gentle hand over his bandaged ear and he smirks,

"Does it still hurt?" she asks sadly,

"Not so much now it's healing. Guess who stopped by earlier on?" he asks,

"Who?"

"Rufus Scrimgeour." Fred replies,

"Scrimgeour? Why was he here?" she asks bewildered,

"Dumbledore's will." George replies and Elsie gasps,

"Oh."

"Anyway, I've spotted some Veela cousins." George says and Fred winks at Elsie and darts after him, and she feels like he's just stamped on her heart.

Suddenly a great ball of light enters the middle of the tent and everyone gasps and disperses from it as Mr Weasley walks towards it, and Kingsley's voice sounds around the room.

"The Ministry has fallen. The Minister of Magic is dead." It says and Elsie's mouth falls open in horror, "They are coming. They are coming." His voice echoes and the orb disappears, creating total panic. The guests begin to disapparate as death eaters fly into the room, and a large fight ensues, as Elsie whips out her wand and starts to fight with a couple of them, and when they are knocked unconscious she gets shunted backwards by several guests trying to flee the scene. Fred appears beside her and grabs her shoulders seriously,

"You need to go! Go!"

"No, I'm not leaving you all here!" she shouts back over the screams,

"You're a muggle born, if they find you here…" he says tailing off,

"I'm not going so…" she says but he cuts her off by kissing her passionately, holding her face in his hands,

"Go! GO!" he screams pushing her away and she gets one last look at him before she turns on the spot and disapparates.


	30. On the Run

On the Run

Elsie runs up the path to her house and opens the door quickly,

"Father! Father!" she shouts and he comes running from his study,

"What? What is it?" he asks worriedly,

"I have to go. The Minister is dead, they're going to come for me, I have to go now!" she says extremely quickly, running up the stairs and throwing clothes and belongings and the tent she bought a few months earlier in preparation of going into hiding into her bright green luminous, magically extended bag.

"Already? Can you not wait until…"

"No, I can't. Dad, they're going to come looking for me and when they do they'll kill us both. You have to go into hiding, keep your head down, do your work from the house or something. But whatever you do don't write to me and don't try and find me. Pretend you don't have a daughter, after all this is over I'll come back, I promise." She says swinging her bag over her shoulder and opening the bedroom window, unlocking her owls' cage and with deep sorrow, releasing her into the night.

"Elsie!" her father calls as she reaches the door. She turns to him and he says with tears in his eyes, "Take care of yourself." And within those words she hears the secret meaning. Just like her, Elsie's father wasn't good when it came to showing his true emotions. She smiles at him weakly and nods, before hurrying from the door and disapparating to the nearby woods she used to hide in when she was little, the place she went to to practice her magic before she received her Hogwarts letter.

She takes out the tent and sets it up before casting protective and concealment charms around it before sitting down in an armchair inside and waiting, waiting for morning to come. She has no idea where she should go and what she should do, and she waits desperately for news from the Burrow. She knows she cannot return, but she waits desperately for news, hoping and praying that none are hurt. After several long, lonely hours she wonders whether they will even be able to contact her if they are being surveyed. Suddenly Elsie notices her owl, Margot, perched on a fallen log. Elsie grins at her, holding out her arm and her owl flies towards her before resting on it.

"Clever girl. You found me didn't you?" she asks stroking her feathers, and then Elsie notices a letter attached to her owls legs. She takes it off gently and Margot sits on top of a nearby wardrobe.

'Dear Elsie,

Don't reply. We are being watched. Everyone here is safe. Harry, Ron and Hermione managed to disapparate. Be careful.

Fred and George'

This is the last piece of news Elsie receives for several weeks. In the meantime she sets traps around the woods for meat or else summons fish from the nearby stream. Margot can fetch mice herself so Elsie doesn't worry about her but one day Elsie rummages around in her bag and pulls out a radio she has long forgotten. She pokes it with her wand several times, praying to hear good news, and all she gets is that Snape has been replaced as Headmaster, Pius Thicknesse is now Minister of Magic and all muggle borns are expelled from Hogwarts and have to go to the Ministry for questioning about their blood status. After several days of doing not much else, Elsie hits the jackpot and hears familiar voices on the Radio,

"Welcome to Potterwatch. We have news that not only are the Ministry questioning muggle borns, they are now also sending them to Azkaban." Kingsley's voice says and Elsie almost cries when he hears it, so alone she has been for the past month hearing a familiar voice overwhelms her.

"We would also like to inform listeners that snatchers are hunting for people who havent turned up for questioning for those on the move, remember to use concealment charms. We have also heard that a taboo has been placed on you know who's name so when it is used, death eaters are able to track your whereabouts. We advise you all to stay cautious and refrain from the name, even if you are brave enough to say it." Kinglsey finishes,

"Thank you Royal." Another voice says and Elsie clasps a hand over her mouth, knowing the voice belongs to Lee Jordan, a friend for many years at school. "Now over to Romulus for Pals of Potter!" Lee continues and then Lupin's voice fills the tent,

"Thanks River."

"Now do you maintain the opinion that Harry Potter is still alive?"

"I do. If he had been killed or captured then the death eaters would want it known far across the population. I believe that Harry is still hiding, just like many of us."

"Many believe he is saving his own skin, what do you reckon of that?" Lee asks him,

"I believe that whatever he is doing, he is doing it towards defeating you know who, and if that means staying low for a while, then we should fully back him. It's what we're all trying to do isnt it?" Lupin asks,

"Hear, hear! Thank you Romulus. And now it's over to our latest correspondent, Rodent!" Lee announces,

"I thought we've been through this, I'm Rapier, remember?" a new voice asks and Elsie laughs and cries at the same time as Fred's voice hits her.

"Alright, alright, Rapier…" Lee says sounding annoyed, "Now we have some new news on you know who's movements and some stories too." He says,

"Yes, well according to sightings we must have several you know who's running around the place. All the mystery he's surrounding himself in is creating a nice wave of panic for everyone, which is causing many to do drastic measures. Also, I believe it would be nice if everyone stopped making up ridiculous stories about him. No, he who must not be named cannot turn himself into a Snake. He has a lovely pet one though for Snake lovers out there." Fred says sarcastically and Elsie cannot help but laugh again, but as he continues on Elsie mutters under her breath,

"Come on Fred say something, say something." Hoping that he says something about her, wanting to know she's alright, just something to know he's thinking of her.

"Thanks Rapier. Now on a more serious matter, we have a list of people who have died in the past few days. Clarice Janning and Brian Young were found killed this morning by snatchers. The others among them are still missing and their families are desperate for news. A muggle family were found in their home last night and although muggle authorities say their deaths is due to a gas leak, members from the Order of the Phoenix have told us that it was in fact the killing curse that caused their deaths. Also, earlier this morning, Robert MacDonald was found dead in his home…" Lee says and Elsie freezes in horror. Robert MacDonald. Her father.

"His daughter, Elsie MacDonald is still in hiding," Lee adds,

"And we'd like her to know that our hearts are with her in this troubled time." Fred interjects, but not even this can calm her down.

Elsie breaks down completely, hitting her bunk in rage, her face screwed up in anger, pain and fear and she sobs into the sheets.

"The next password will be Albus. Keep each other safe: keep faith. Goodbye." Lee finishes and the signal goes dead as Elsie wails and sobs into the night.

"Daddy! Daddy, watch!" a little girl cries in Elsie's dream that night, "Daddy!" she calls to him and she throws a flower up into the air and it hovers there, opening and shutting above their heads,

"I'm watching, dear. I'm watching." The man says to her, smiling down at her.

Elsie's eyes open quickly and she gets out of her bed, changing into some warm clothes and pulling on her shoes. Outside there was a thick layer of snow over every surface, and she sat at the entrance of the tent, too upset to even cry anymore. She felt sick with herself for dragging her father into all of this. If she had just not become a witch he wouldn't be dead. It was all her fault. All hers. And now he was gone. She had now lost her mother, best friend and father. Well at least her mother and father were together again, and Elsie was determined to destroy you know who and his death eaters, even if it meant loosing her own life. She would fight to the end with the Order and Harry, she wasn't going to go down without a fight after what they have done. She wonders whether they will bury her dad with her mother, if so, she would visit the grave after the war, right now it was too dangerous to go. Elsie mourns her father for the oncoming weeks and soon looses track of time, the only thing keeping her going are the irregular Potterwatch broadcasts, and she lived for the few minutes when she could hear once again Fred's voice, George's and Remus's and Kingsleys's. She wanted them to know that she was safe, she wanted to let them know she was thinking of them all constantly, and Tonks. And she wondered when the baby was due. But then it hit her. Elsie knew one grave she could go to without fear of being found. No one would expect her to go to his grave. Not a soul. Carefully and slowly she packed up the tent and placed it back in her bag before disapparating to the small village she knew her friend had lived in.

She walks silently along the main street until she reaches an old, beautiful church beside a graveyard. She walks into it and searches among the tombs before coming to a halt. She looks down sadly at the cold marble engraved with,

In loving memory of Cedric Diggory, a loving son and friend.' She goes down on her knees beside it and wipes off the snow from it,

"I'm so, sorry Ced." She says blinking back the tears as she imagines his body several feet below her, beneath the cold hard ground, "They'll get what's coming to them." She says bitterly before taking out her wand and waving it, creating a large bouquet of flowers.

"I promise." She says getting to her feet and giving his name one last look before disapparating to a new set of woods in Scotland that she remembered visiting with her mother when she was a child. She remembers her more clearly here, her long brown hair and kind face, smiling down at her as they trudged through the mud amongst the trees. Elsie sets up her tent and sets the concealment charms around it before going and setting some more snares before returning to her tent and turning on the radio, muttering the password under her breath, but Potterwatch doesn't appear. After tinkering with it for a while she leaves the tent and climbs a nearby tree, before following a Rabbit, hoping it will lead her back to its burrow. Although usually the thought of killing an animal herself she would have refused to do it, but food was food and she could hardly go striding up to the nearest supermarket. The Rabbit however walks into Elsie's snare, and smiling triumphantly she sits down on the branch, ready to retrieve it, when she stops, noticing someone walking towards the snare wearing a thick cloak, their hood up. Guessing it's a muggle Elsie sits silently, but when the person pulls out a wand, Elsie grabs hers and points it at the person before they can steal her food.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She warns and the person freezes, looking around for the source of the noise before noticing her,

"Elsie?" the person asks, removing their hood and Elsie realises it is none other than Williamson from the office.

"Williamson?" she asks jumping down from the tree, "What are you doing here?" she hisses,

"Most likely the same as you." He replies shortly,

"You're muggle born?" she asks, stunned by this news.

"Yes." He replies and she looks at him awkwardly,

"Are you out here alone?"

"Yes." He replies and they stand facing each other without saying anything, before he asks, "You know, with the two of us, we might be able to watch each others backs." He says and she nods,

"Alright. Come on." She says, picking up her Rabbit and leading him back to where her tent is.

"I don't see anything?" he asks her perplexed and she grabs his arm and pulls him into the protective charms and letting him see the tent.

"Oh, right." He says and she heads inside.

"What have you heard?" he asks her later on as they eat the small amount of meat from the Rabbit.

"Nothing much. Just that snatchers are everywhere, you know who's getting even more powerful and muggle borns are being sent to Azkaban."

"They are?" he asks stunned,

"I take it you didn't know?"

"No."

"Oh." She says and they continue to eat in silence,

"Tell me more about yourself, Elsie. Why are you here alone?" he asks her after they finish,

"There isnt much to tell. I have no family. They killed my dad. Everyone else I know are half blood or pure blood." She says and he sighs,

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"What about you?" she asks him,

"I was picked up at the Ministry. On my way to Azkaban I confunded the man taking me and nicked his broom and came here. I've been living in the woods ever since." He replies and they sit in silence until he says morosely, "I think we should just stay here, Elsie. It's over. You know who's won." He says and she shakes her head,

"No. No he hasn't. Not until everyone of us feels the same way. And I don't. And I never will. He killed my dad. He killed my best friend. I'm not giving up this easily." She replies bitterly and he looks up at her as though only just noticing her,

"And I don't think you've really given up either. Otherwise you wouldn't be here. You'd be sitting in Azkaban." She replies walking over to her bunk and crawling into it, leaving him looking mystified and yet more determined.

For several months Elsie and Williamson remain in the tent, taking it in turns to keep watch and they both get much more sleep than before. Williamson is far more lax about stealing and summons food from the local muggle town, despite Elsie's outrage by this.

"How did you ever become an Auror by being this lax about laws!" she exclaims,

"It's either steal, or starve." He replies and after staring at the small pile of food she too starts to consume it ravenously. They learn much more about each other, and not only offer protection and security, but companionship. Elsie hadn't realised how alone she was until Williamson came along, and although he could be extremely moody, she was glad he was there. He soon picked up on the fact that Elsie loved Fred, and one day when she was listening to Potterwatch, she had her eyes closed, listening to him and George, imagining them there in the tent with her.

"You still love him don't you?" he asks her. She had told him about the twins several days ago, and about how Fred loved Angelina, and everything. In return he had told her about his family, his brothers and sisters who had been killed while he was on his way to Azkaban.

"You still love him despite knowing you're second best." He says and she turns to look at him angrily, "Why don't you just move on? It would be easier for everyone." He says grumpily and she gets to her feet,

"Because I love him. And you can't move on from that. I have loved him for years and years, and although I know it's foolish and stupid, it really isnt. Just giving up, would be giving up on everything. And I don't want to give up, not when I've… not when I truly love him, and always will." She says, wondering why she is telling this man she hardly knows about her feelings. She hated talking about feelings. It made her feel vulnerable and weak. But she wanted at least someone to know, just in case she was killed and Fred never found out. "So yes I know I'm second best, and I know I always will. But I'd rather be second best than not best at all." She says and he looks at her sorrowfully for a moment before holding both his hands out to her and she takes them, as he smiles at her weakly, squeezing her hands reassuringly,

"I think it's admiral." Is all he says and she smiles slightly back at him.


	31. Another Loss

_**This one is going to be a short chapter I'm afraid! I've almost finished and if you've been reading then I thank you and please don't forget to review and to favourite.**_

Another Loss

Williamson decides that they shouldn't stay in one place too long, and so week by week they apparate to a new destination. One night, in a forest in England somewhere, Elsie is keeping watch in the mouth of the tent, Williamson's slight snores filling the quiet void, when she suddenly hears people talking, and twigs and leaves snapping. She draws out her wand, standing silently as a group of snatchers walk past, one carrying Ted Tonks.

"Oh no!" Elsie moans in despair as she watches as the group heave the bodies of him and several others, including a Goblin away.

"What is it?" Williamsons voices asks from his bed and she turns to face him,

"The snatchers… they've got Tonks' dad." She says and he looks saddened, "I don't even know whether she will find out."

"Well we can't go and tell her. It will be too dangerous." He says quickly,

"I know, I know. I just… wish I could." She says sadly, sitting back in the entrance of the tent,

"Tomorrow morning we should apparate somewhere new if we know snatchers are round." Williamson says, slowly climbing out of bed, "You get some rest, I'll take over from here." He says kindly and she gets up and climbs to her top bunk before settling down and falling asleep.

They apparate to a set of woods in the West of Scotland, and something stirs in the back of Elsie's mind.

"I've been here before… somewhere." She says looking out over the Loch and around at the mountains that surround it,

"Are you sure?" Williamson asks whilst casting the protective charms,

"Yes, positive… it's… I know it it's there I just…" she says before spinning round to face him, "Merlin I've got it! This is where the Hogwarts express goes past, the track should be just over there somewhere!" she says pointing to the other end of the Loch,

"Oh. Right." Williamson says, not getting very excited by it, but the thought of being so close to her school, her home for so many years… the place some of her friends were at right now… it was exciting for her.

"I'm going to find some food." Elsie says, stepping out from the protective enchantments and going for a walk, but she cannot find any signs of life anywhere, everything seems cold, dark and desolate. Realising it is no use, Elsie heads back in the direction she came in towards the tent, and when it gets into eye shot someone grabs her from behind.

"Get off me!" she screams loudly, struggling in the hands of whoever has her.

"Take her wand!" a slimy looking man orders and another snatcher steals it from her pocket.

"What's your name sweetie." The slimy, filthy one says and she simply stares at him furiously. He hits her across the face, "I said, what is you name sweetie?" he repeats and she opens her mouth,

"Nymphadora Tonks, half blood." She lies easily,

"Oh, we don't think you are, do we?" he asks his men who laugh,

"Let me have her, go on." A tall, horrible, filthy looking man rasps from beside the snatcher,

"Not yet Greyback, not yet. I have a few questions for her." The other snatcher says and Elsie's eyes widen in panic. Greyback. Greyback the Werewolf. Notorious for his thirst for children and blood. She begged for Williamson to find her, to come out and save her, but still… no sign of him, despite the tent being feet away.

"Where are your little friends mudblood?" the snatcher says,

"I am here alone, and I am not a mudblood!"

"Oh, we know who you are. We went round your dad's house to try and find you. We saw you in the pictures on the mantelpiece, darling." He hisses and she lunges at him, making a noise like an angry animal. They killed her dad?

"Haha!" he says triumphantly, "Now we know who you really are, where are your friends?"

"I'm here alone." Elsie repeats, praying for Williamsons help, maybe he was a coward after all.

"Alright then, if you say so. Greyback, you can have her." The snatcher says with relish and Greyback grabs hold of her robes and throws her to the ground where Elsie then tries to crawl away, he grabs hold of her ankle and pulls her back towards him, pinning her down as she struggles screaming for help. He exposes her neck and grins down at her, leaning down and Elsie screams, getting ready for him to start ripping and eating her flesh but Williamson comes running into the open, aiming his wand at Greyback and shouting,

"Stupefy!" Greyback is lifted off her and Elsie sits up, scrambling to her feet and stealing his wand and duelling with the other snatches.

Elsie watches as suddenly, the truly slimy snatcher points his wand at Williamson and make a swift movement, and a large gash appears in his neck, and Williamson crumples to the ground.

"NO! Levicorpus!" Elsie screams, aiming her wand at the snatcher and he flies into the air, hitting a tree and falling unconscious at the base. Elsie falls to her knees beside her friend as blood trickles from the corner of his mouth,

"Hold on, hold on." She mutters,

"Elsie…"

"Hold on!" she shouts to him but he grabs the front of her jumper,

"You could be so happy. Be happy, Elsie." He says before his lips stop moving and his arms become limp, releasing her once more.

"No!" Elsie cries, taking deep breaths as she shuts his eyes peacefully. She rests his body down for a while as she packs up the tent into her bag. She holds onto his lifeless body and apparates, appearing in a completely new environment, on a hillside somewhere far away from anyone else. She sets up the tent and casts the protective charms before creating a hole in the earth and placing Williamson's body into it, covering him with the earth. She finds a small stone nearby and enlarges it, carving the words,

"Terrence Williamson, a brave man." And placing it at the head of the grave.

Elsie returns inside the tent, unable to cry, feeling like her young, cold, emotionless self once again. She finds his rucksack and rummages through it, looking for anything that may be useful. She finds a small book and she opens it curiously, opening to the last diary entry and reading it feeling ashamed, yet inquisitive.

'I have completely forgotten what day it is. I've been on the run now for months, and Merlin knows how long Elsie's been out here by herself. She's so quiet, all the time and the only time I see her showing any sort of emotion is when she's listening to that bloody radio. I know how much she loves, Frank or Fred or whatever his name is, but yet, I don't know how she can't see that I have feelings for her too. It's like she's blind, I wish she could move on and get over him. I've tried suggesting we apparate to another country but she refuses, it's like she's waiting for him and his twin to spring out at us from behind a tree or something. It's mental… yet, understandable. Sometimes I feel like that about my family… but they're gone. However, we're moving again tomorrow, and I just hope we don't run into anymore snatchers.'

The entry finishes and Elsie shuts the book with a snap. So after all this time of her hardly paying any attention to him, at work and out here he had these feelings for her? She was gobsmacked, and upset. Why did she manage to hurt everyone around her because she had fallen in love with someone that didn't feel the same way? Or maybe he did… he had kissed her that night of the wedding, pushed her away and told her to save herself. That couldn't mean nothing, could it? Elsie paces around the tent, feeling even more anxious and lonely than before she met Williamson in the woods, and know knowing the truth she felt guilty as well. She wanted to be with other people, she wanted to be with her friends, but she couldn't. So she lay down on her bed and closed her eyes, trying desperately to fall asleep.

One day, on the 2nd of March, an orb of light, just like she had seen at the wedding appeared in front of her, and she sprang to her feet.

"Harry has appeared at Hogwarts. The castle is threatened. The Order of the Phoenix is needed to protect it from you know who. Head to the Hogs head." Kingsley's voice echoes. Without even thinking about what may be in store, Elsie hastily packs up her things and apparates to the shabby bar,

"Another one is it?" the barman asks and Elsie takes a double take. He looks so much like Dumbledore.

"You're Aberforth?" she asks him as he holds open a painting above the fireplace and she peers through it and finds a passageway,

"Yes I am."

"Does this go to the castle?" Elsie asks him and he nods,

"Tell the others I'll be through shortly." He instructs and she nods as she climbs inside and runs quickly through the cavernous tunnel, reaching another door and opening it, jumping down into the room of requirement. It has much changed since Elsie last set foot in it, there are hammocks and pillows and people crowded inside and she notices a few of them.

"Tonks!" Elsie cries hurtling towards her and hugging her friend tightly,

"I'm so glad you're alright!"

"How are you? How's the baby?"

"It's a boy! We named him Ted after my father." She says proudly, "I need to find Remus, we'll catch up later." She says hurrying out of the room among with several other people and Elsie is hot on her tail.


	32. The Battle

The Battle

Out in the corridors it seems like all hell has broken loose. There are students running in all different directions, death eaters battling with Order members and students alike, objects and rubble flying through the air. Elsie passes a nearby window and sees Giants and Acromantula in the grounds, including more people duelling. Elsie sends spell after spell at passing death eaters,

"Luna!" Elsie shouts sending a stunning spell at a death eater who sneaks behind her. Luna turns to Elsie, smiling gratefully. Elsie finds Ginny battling a death eater and she joins her in getting rid of him and Ginny turns to her, and they hug quickly.

"I'm so glad you're alright." Ginny says as they spring apart and send a huge spider back out the window it tried to climb through. They run in opposite directions, Ginny heads down the stairs but Elsie clambers up them, pushing through the throng of students, sending a curse to a death eater that comes flying over their heads. It hits them and they fall to the ground. Elsie reaches a somewhat deserted corridor, but suddenly a death eater appears before her, hitting her in the face. She falls backwards, picks up her fallen wand and cries,

"Stupefy!" and the death eater hurtles backwards, crashing through the window and falling several stories before hitting the ground.

Elsie turns around and sees Fred battling with a death eater. Just seeing him again causes her heart to explode. It is much easier to tell which twin is which as he doesn't have a damaged ear, and when the death eater falls to the ground, frozen, Elsie cries,

"Fred!" he turns to face her, grinning ear to ear, and they sprint down the corridor to each other, wrapping their arms tightly around one another.

"Elsie! You're alive!" he cries and she pulls back sternly,

"Of course I am! Do you have so little faith in me?" and he laughs,

"Elsie, I'm an idiot for only just realising this but… I love you. I do, I love you, no one else. Not knowing where you were or whether you were alive or dead made me realise just how much so." He says and she simply glows, but he adds looking around nervously, "Don't tell George I said that."

"You are a complete idiot!" she replies and he takes her face gently in his hands and kisses her passionately, but she pushes him away quickly, narrowly avoiding a curse shot at them from an approaching death eater. The pair duel with him before he lies frozen on the ground, his whole head swelling to an enormous size,

"My lady." Fred asks, indicating the death eater,

"I don't mind if I do." Elsie replies, putting her foot on the death eaters body and kicking him down the stairs, he only rolls a few flights before his whole head explodes.

"Come on!" Fred says taking her hand and leading her down the stairs, they duel their way down to the great hall where the true fighting is commencing, and Elsie pulls away from Fred as she sees the snatcher that killed Williamson and her father.

"You!" she screams at him in rage, and he spins on the spot, looking at her jovially, they fight briefly, but Elsie is too clever for him and soon he is lying on the ground, looking at her terrified,

"A few words for you." She hisses, nearing him, pointing her wand at his chest, "Never-mess-with a Scot." She says before casting Confringo and the man bursts into flames.

Soon the ghosts and Peeves are joining in the fighting, helping in any means necessary, Peeves dropping knives and other dangerous objects onto the death eaters. Elsie sees Ron, Hermione and Harry hurrying out into the grounds and she bumps into Hagrid.

"Hagrid!"

"Elsie! Watch out." He says and she turns and sends a jinx at a death eater nearby,

"Well done, I need ter go and speak ter the Acromantula, they don't know what they're doin'." He says hurrying out of the grounds. Elsie sees her friends battling nearby, Angelina, Alicia, Katie, the Weasleys, Luna, Neville and other familiar faces duelling heartily with the other death eaters, and she even sees her Professors too.

Elsie bumps into Fred again,

"What happened? Where's Snape?"

"Some of us Order members came and he disapparated." He replies quickly as they both jinx an incoming death eater and he crumples to the ground.

"Right." She says but Lupin comes hurrying towards them, and Elsie grabs hold of him and pulls him out of the way of a curse as Fred battles the death eater it came from.

"Have you seen Tonks? I lost her…" he says frantically,

"No, but she'll be fine." Elsie replies as he sprints away, crying,

"GREYBACK!" and Elsie notices the Werewolf in his human form scurrying away to the upper floors.

"Els, I need to go and find George." Fred says turning to her, "Will you be…"

"I'll be fine. Go!" she shouts and they kiss each other quickly one last time and she turns and hurries through the open doors and begins to try and help finish off a Giant that Lavender, Parvati, Cormac and Dean are all trying to bring down. After selling spell after spell at it, Elsie sends a Conjunctivitus curse at it's eye, and it thrashes about before tripping over, hitting hits head hard on the ground and lying still.

"Ahhhhhh!" a voice screams and she looks up and sees a broomstick on fire, hurtling towards the ground with a familiar face on it,

"Oliver!" Elsie gasps sending a spell at him to stop his fall, before settling him down on the ground.

"Thanks, Elise." He says and she sighs,

"Elsie." She corrects under her breath before joining in the fight. Suddenly she hears a distant cry of outrage and she sees Hagrid being lifted away by an army of Acromantula.

"Hagrid!" she screams sending spells at them but they carry him away into the Forbidden forest. Suddenly, everything inside her goes cold and she starts to tremble. She spins around and sees a small cluster of Dementors flying towards her,

"Expecto Patronum!" she screams, and from her wand her Hawk erupts, hurtling towards the hooded figures and causing them to flee from the beautiful white vapour the creature consists of.

"Get inside!" a familiar voice shouts and she turns and finds Professor McGonagall hurrying everyone back into the castle as explosions happen all around the courtyard.

"Professor!" Elsie shouts to her and she waves at her in recognition,

"Get inside Miss MacDonald! It's good to see you!" she shouts after her,

"It's good to see you too, Professor!" she calls over her shoulder, running inside and joining in the battle. She catches a glimpse from the window of the protective shield around them starting to crumble, burning bright in the sky, and soon a new wave of death eaters arrive, and Elsie battles with them furiously, eventually reaching a corridor upstairs,

"Hello sweetie." A rasping voice says and she turns around and Greyback lifts her off the ground and throws her across the corridor. Elsie lands on the ground, and he advances towards her and she scurries backwards on the floor, trying to find her fallen wand, she picks it up, aims it at her but he raises his, missing her but hitting the banister behind her, and she topples over it, falling down several flights of stairs and landing on her back, winding herself as she splutters and gasps for breath. She tries to reach for her wand, realising this is the end, as he advances on her, leans down and stroking her exposed neck, but before he can attack, a familiar voice shouts,

"No, Elsie!" and Greyback flies off her, Elsie looks around, still trying to gasp her breath as she sees Lavender hurtle towards Greyback. Elsie manages to reach her wand, but as she gets to her feet, Greyback pounces on Lavender and they fall over the banister, falling.

"No, Lavender!" she screams, sprinting down the stairs. She just catches sight of Hermione stunning Greyback who flies through the air, unconscious and Elsie drops to Lavender's unmoving body, her neck ripped open.

"No, Lavender." She groans tears flooding her eyes. She doesn't want to leave her little saviour here, even though she knows it's too late, and so she picks up her body and takes it into the great hall, laying her down on a nearby empty stretcher.

"Ginny!" Elsie shouts seeing her friend, "Ginny have you seen Fred and George?" she asks her desperately,

"No, I thought they were with you." She replies looking worried, but they break apart as Dolohov and another death eater that Elsie vaguely remembers from the wanted posters start to duel with them. Dolohov shoots a stunner at Elsie and she just blocks it, but it causes her to loose her balance,

"No!" McGonagall shouts, joining the duel and taking her place as Elsie has time to get back to her feet. Out of nowhere, Moaning Myrtle appears, flying straight at Dolohov and remaining where he stands and as he moves about Myrtle follows him, making it harder for him to concentrate and he gets extremely frustrated.

"Get out of here!" he shouts as McGonagall and Elsie shoot two different spells at him and he flies backwards, colliding with another person before falling to the ground.

"Thank you, Myrtle." Elsie says to her, glad to see her friend again,

"It feels nice to be useful." She replies with relish, flying towards another death eater and entering his body too. Elsie sees from the window the Quidditch pitch burning down to the ground and her heart aches, remembering all the matches she watched there, cheering on the twins. She is now starting to panic, now that she hasn't seen the pair of them for a long while, and Tonks and Remus too. She sees Neville looking battered and bruised with Luna too, both duelling a pair of death eaters, close to each other. She wonders where Harry, Ron and Hermione are and what they are doing right now. She passes, Dean, Ginny, Seamus, Cho, Katie, Angelina, Parvati, Cormac, Professor Flitwick, Professor Slughorn and Professor Sprout and she hurries upstairs, to where she hears screams. There's a large gap in the corridor where the floor has been blasted apart, and she takes a run at it, jumping and just reaching the other end. There are a couple of death eaters fighting of a group of fifth years and Elsie runs forward, shielding the students and fighting off the enemy until they have fallen to the ground in defeat.

Elsie heads to a window and she leaps from it, grabbing hold of a Giant outside, she sends a stunning spell right up his nostril and as he collapses, she jumps just before he hits the ground, before fending off more death eaters, Acromantula and Dementors. She catches sight of Harry, Ron and Hermione heading towards the boat shed, and she, Aberforth, Cho, Seamus, Ginny, Kinglsey, Katie, Padma and a group of other friends send their Patronus' at an army of Dementors who disappear and flee. They turn around and resume battle as Harry, Ron and Hermione hurry away. Elsie watches in despair as Giants, death eaters and Acromantula destroy her beloved school, her home. Rubble litters the courtyard, and whole walls are missing. Flames and smoke are billowing about and even the School bell is lying in a heap of rubble. This sight, pains Elsie right to the core, how could they do this? How could they destroy something that had been so good, so happy, and kill so many. She watches as the Headless Hunt and other ghosts battle on, as well as Peeves and the Thestrals of Hogwarts, which she could now see, as she had witnessed Williamsons death.

"Arania Exumai!" Elsie cries, aiming her spell at a towering spider that scuttles towards her. It flies backwards and she hurries back towards the front doors and heads back up the marble staircase as a cold, merciless voice fills her head.

"You have fought valiantly, but in vain." It says, but Elsie battles onwards, down the corridor, finding George sitting, backed in a corner, his wand flying out of his hand as a female death eater stands over him.

"GEORGE!" Elsie screams, sending a well aimed jinx at the death eater, and it hits her squarely in the face and she topples. Elsie hurries towards George, picking his fallen wand as she does so, kneeling beside him and handing him his wand, Voldermort's voice still ringing.

"I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste." It says as Elsie and George sit staring at each other, both hearing the same voice in their heads. "I therefore command my forces to retreat. In their absence, dispose of your dead with dignity. Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you. On this night, you have allowed your friends to die for you, rather than face me yourself. There is no greater dishonour. Join me in the Forbidden forest and confront your fate. If you do not do this I shall kill every last man woman and child that tries to conceal you from me." The voice disappears and Elsie gets to her feet, her hands trembling.

"George." She says again calmly, and they hug each other, relieved that the other is safe.

"Elsie, we were so worried. We hadn't heard from you in ages."

"I know, that's the whole point." She replies, swallowing hard, "We're not going to give him Harry are we?" she asks and he shakes his head,

"No. Have you seen Fred?" George asks her and she looks at him stunned,

"He went looking for you." She says anxiously,

"I'm going to go and find him." he replies,

"I'll be there in a minute." Elsie replies as he hugs her one last time and runs down the stairs. Elsie helps carry bodies down to the great hall, she bumps into Neville and Oliver Wood carrying Colin Creevy's body.

"You know what, I can manage him on my own, Neville." Oliver says before lifting him over his shoulder and hurrying down the stairs with him,

"Are you alright, Neville?" Elsie asks him and he nods sadly, and Elsie chases after Oliver,

"Oliver, have you seen Fred?" she asks, helping carry Colin, even though he isnt struggling. She still wants to help carry the little Gryffindor she had known rather well.

"No, sorry." He replies sorrowfully as they enter the hall, they lay Colin down on a stretcher near Lavender and Elsie tries to find her friends. Now the battle has ceased, the whole castle is deadly quiet. The great hall is filled with rubble, large holes missing from the walls, the enchanted ceiling grey overheard, and the tables gone. In their place lie hundreds of stretches, some still vacant, but most filled with bodies or the injured. She passes Padma and Professor Trelawney, covering over bodies with white blankets, Professor Slughorn bandaging up a badly cut Argus Filch, Professor Sprout helps some minor injured people, trying to comfort them too. Students carry bodies to stretchers, or haul stretchers around the room. Madam Pomfrey bustles around trying to mend the injured and students comfort one another. Other students, like Cormac sit alone, silent, cut and bruised but otherwise alright. She nods her head at Cormac, having known him for quite a while and he replies in kind. Elsie passes Lavender's body, tears welling in her eyes as well as the guilt, but then Elsie reaches a pair of bodies which makes the tears flood from her eyes. Tonks and Remus. Her friends, lying beneath the enchanted ceiling, looking as though they might even be asleep, their arms reaching out towards one another.

"Oh no. No." Elsie says falling to her knees beside her friends the tears slipping from her eyes. Her friends, Tonks, the girl that had been her first true female friend, Remus, her friend and mentor. And Elsie realises with sorrow that they had left their son behind here, all alone. Elsie carefully wipes away the filth from their peaceful faces, before pushing Tonks' stretcher closer to Remus' so that their outreached hands found each other. They were together in death, and that gives Elsie a tiny bit of comfort as she gets to her feet.

Then, in horror, Elsie finds the Weasley family standing, sobbing nearby. In terror of what might be coming, she slowly walks towards them, although not really joining the grieving family, and staying several feet away. There, lying on a stretcher, is Fred. Elsie feels like the ground beneath her feet is flying away, like her whole world has been taken from her in a blink of an eye. But Fred could not be dead. He couldn't. He was going to jump up any second, laughing and grinning at their faces. But then it hit her. This was not the time to be joking… and as he remained lying there, she realised that the man she had loved for almost eight years, the man she had only ever loved, was gone. The tears fell from her eyes, and her knees buckled beneath her, and she fell to the cold stone floor as she grieved openly. She had just found out that he loved her too, and now he had been taken away from her only hours later. She wanted to get hold of Voldermort and his death eaters, and not just kill them but destroy them all for what they have done, she wanted to pull them apart, just like they had now done to her. She wept for Fred as she watched Molly lying across his chest, Arthur stroking her hair, tears flowing from his eyes. George was sitting at Fred's head, sobbing openly. Percy was standing crying, just staring down at his little brother, and Bill and Fleur were holding each other, sobbing. Ginny's face as red and blotchy as Hermione hurried forward and embraced her, and as Ron neared George and Percy hugged him tightly. As she watched, sobbing alone, Elsie realised as she stared at Fred's body that she didn't want to stay and fight. She wanted to go, to run, to flee. She had lost everyone, and she didn't want to stay here anymore. She got to her feet and stumbled from the hall, sitting alone on the marble staircase, sobbing and weeping. Overcome by anger and rage and pain she screams loudly, before giving up completely, and holding her head in her hands in misery.


	33. The Ending

_**So, this is the end of this story I think. Please don't forget to review and whatnot. Elsie, PM me with feedback, questions or requests and I'll see what I can do. Thanks for reading! **_

The Ending

After several minutes of sitting with her head in her hands, crying with every last bit of feeling left inside her, she hears someone approaching.

"Ginny told me she saw you coming out here." A familiar voice says and Elsie looks up to find George standing a few metres away, his eyes red and blotchy, his face wet with tears. Seeing him standing there brings even more tears to Elsie's eyes. She sits there, staring at him, not knowing quite what to say. She knew that sorry could not begin to cover how she felt and how to comfort George, so she remained sitting, silent. Suddenly George hurries towards her and grabs her arms pulling her into a standing position and looking into her eyes intently, anger and frustration and sorrow in his eyes.

"We can still end this, Elsie. We can still finish this for him, for everyone." He says fiercely and she shakes her head, beginning to cry again,

"I can't. I don't want to. I've lost everyone I love! I can't do this. I don't want to do this anymore!" she wails and he shakes her slightly, his hands still clutching her arms.

"Yes you can! You can, Elsie, you can!" he pleads with her as she shakes her head, "Do this for them. Do this for Fred, Remus and Tonks!" he says desperately and Elsie sobs as she looks into his eyes, so much like Fred's, yet so different. Eventually she nods, and George releases her arms and they hug each other tightly, feeling each others grief and desolation. They return to the great hall together, and reach the Weasley family, still mourning over Fred's lifeless body. Ginny runs to her and hugs Elsie tightly and she hugs her back, unsuccessfully trying not to cry again.

After a long, momentous time, it seems that Luna hurries towards them, her eyes wide.

"What is it Luna?" Elsie asks, her voice quavering,

"You know who and the death eaters are coming." She replies and they follow her out of the great hall and into the courtyard followed by the rest of their comrades in arms, watching as the sea of death eaters walk towards them. They have Hagrid in ropes and Elsie watches him angrily and sadly, but realising he is carrying someone in his arms, tears leak down Hagrid's face as he walks and Ginny asks as Voldermort and his snake move towards them,

"Who is that Hagrid's carrying? Neville, who is it?" she asks him as he stands with the dirty sorting hat in hand, already in the courtyard before them.

"Harry Potter is dead!" Voldermort announces and Ginny screams,

"NO! NO!" and tries to hurry towards him, but Arthur grabs hold of her,

"Silence. Stupid girl. Harry Potter is dead. From this day forth, you put your faith in me." He announces but the remaining survivors stand facing him and his death eaters, shaking their heads in silent, stunned disbelief. 'If Harry's dead, then it's over.' Elsie thinks silently, as George takes his place beside her.

"Harry Potter is dead!" Voldermort announces to his death eaters who all laugh joyfully, and Elsie wants to run at them all, and tear them all apart. "And now is the time to declare yourselves. Come forward and join us. Or die." Voldermort continues, looking expectantly at the crowd. Nobody moves.

"Draco!" a voice calls from the death eaters, a long blonde hair, dishevelled man says and the crowd turn to face Draco Malfoy, standing with the other students, looking frightened and unsure,

"Draco." His father repeats, Elsie believes that Malfoy might not join them but then a woman standing beside his father says softly,

"Draco, come." And eventually Draco walks towards the death eaters,

"Ah, well done, Draco. Well done." Voldermort praises before hugging him awkwardly and Malfoy joins his mother and father. Suddenly, Neville limps forwards and Elsie looks at him stunned, what is he doing?

"Well, I must say I hoped for better." Voldermort says, humiliating him as Elsie watches on desperately. Neville Longbottom, the boy she felt sorry for as he hopped into the great hall, his legs stuck together, limping towards Voldermort readily. "And who might you be, young man?" he asks him,

"Neville Longbottom." Is the reply and the death eaters laugh shrilly, including Bellatrix's cackle.

"Well, Neville, I am sure we can find a place for you in our ranks." Voldermort says but suddenly, Neville interrupts him.

"I'd like to say something." He says loudly and you know who looks quite frustrated, before gathering himself,

"Well, Neville, I'm sure we'd all be fascinated to hear what you have to say." He replies, and the shocked crowd, knowing that Neville, speaking out of turn, will most likely result in his death, listen intently,

"It doesn't matter that Harry's gone." He begins but Seamus interrupts,

"Stand down, Neville!"

"People die every day." Neville continues, "Friends, family-" Neville says and tears spring in Elsie's eyes, thinking of how many people she has lost in her life, "Yeah. We lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us, in here." Neville says touching his heart, "So's Fred…" he says and Elsie lets the tears glide down her cheeks, knowing that he will always be in her heart, however painful it feels, "And Remus. Tonks. All of them." Neville says and Elsie thinks of all the people that are gone, her two best friends, the love of her life, Williamson, Mad-eye, Dumbledore, Lavender, Colin, her father, her mother, Cedric…

"They didn't die in vain." Neville announces, before turning on Voldermort, "But you will. Because you're wrong. Harry's heart did beat for us. For all of us! This is not over!" Neville shouts, drawing out Godric Gryffindor's sword from the sorting hat, just as, suddenly, Harry pulls himself free from Hagrid's arms, getting up and pointing his wand at Nagini,

"Confringo!" he shouts just missing the snake, but hitting a group of death eaters.

The crowd laugh in joy, Harry's alive! They could still finish this! They could still avenge their friends and family and the other fallen! Harry turns and runs along the courtyard as Voldermort sends spells at him, missing him each time. Elsie hears Hermione and Ron gasp and laugh in joy and happiness, knowing their best friend is still alive, and Elsie stands in the same spot, laughing as the others retreat. George grabs Elsie's hand and leads her back to the large doors, Elsie glancing over her shoulder and seeing the frightened death eaters disapparating and fleeing, Bellatrix screaming at them to return. Neville hurries forwards, wielding the sword but Voldermort sends a spell at him and he flies backwards as Elsie, the Weasleys, Hermione, Harry and Kingsley try and protect the front entrance.

"Neville!" Arthur shouts too little, too late. Elsie and the others begin to battle with the death eaters, although most of them have fled. Harry disappears but no one stops him, he has to do what he must do to defeat Voldermort. Elsie watches as the great hall bursts once more into battle, and as Bellatrix almost hits Ginny, Mrs Weasley hurries towards her, pushing Ginny out of harms way,

"Not my daughter, you bitch!" she proclaims before they begin to duel, and it looks as though Bellatrix is winning, and as Elsie stuns the person she is duelling with, she hurries forward, ready to protect her, despite the fact Ginny, Arthur and George are standing by. But Molly pulls back, freezes Bellatrix before sending a spell right into her chest, and she bursts into tiny little pieces, a triumphant look on Molly's face.

She watches as Padma, Cormac and Dean battle two large death eaters, as Dolohov falls at Flitwick's hands, as Luna and Cho fend of a female death eater…

"ELSIE!" a voice screams and she turns just in time to see a flash of red hit her in the chest.

She wakes up standing in an unfamiliar house, and a man comes hurrying down the stairs… not just any man though, Fred Weasley. Just seeing him alive and moving fills her with such happiness, such heart lifting joy that she forgets all about her unfamiliar setting. He walks right past her, without even looking at her and she grins at him,

"Fred!" she calls, but he continues to ignore her and her face falls as he heads towards a woman standing with her back turned and kisses her cheek, "Fred?" Elsie says hoarsely, but the woman turns and she finds herself staring at her own self. Elsie stands in shock as more footsteps come down the stairs, and her mother and father enter the quaint room,

"When will they be here, darling?" her mother asks her other self,

"Soon, I'm sure." Elsie's other self replies as Fred wraps one arm around her, no sooner has she spoken than the doorbell rings and her father goes to answer it, and Tonks and Remus enter, holding their son in their arms, along with the whole Weasley clan, Harry and Hermione too, Williamson, Cedric… Elsie watches dazed and transfixed, is this what her life could have been like if the world was rid of bad and only good prevailed? Suddenly, this happy, joyful scene becomes blurry as Elsie watches as other order members enter, including Dumbledore and Mad-eye and they all great each other happily. Elsie clings onto this dream inside her head, but she opens her eyes and finds herself staring up at the enchanted ceiling. George kneeling beside her, looking frantic,

"Elsie!" he cries, wrapping his arms around her in a bone cracking hug.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asks her worriedly as she gets to her feet,

"Yes, I'm fine." Elsie replies slightly dazed, drawing her wand and blocking the happy vision of what could have been from her mind, before running towards Luna and assisting her in defeating another death eater.

Elsie watches as the battle unfolds in front of her eyes, as Yaxley is slammed to the floor by George and Lee, Walden Macnair gets thrown across the room by Hagrid, Ron and Neville bringing down Greyback, Aberforth stunning Rookwood and Arthur and Percy flooring Thicknesse. After several duels of her own, Elsie catches sight of Hermione and Ron falling into a heap of rubble in the entrance hall and Neville rushing to their aid, beheading the snake that is about to attack them. Dark clouds billow out of it and Elsie watches as the remaining death eaters panic, some disapparate, others continue to fight, but then someone cries,

"He's dead!" and the remaining death eaters too all leave, leaving everyone at a loss of what to do.

Several hours later, Kinglsey has been placed as Minister of Magic and Elsie watches as her old Professors, Flitwick, Slughorn, Sprout and Mr Filch and Madam Pomfrey sit with cups of tea, chatting and exchanging tales, looking immensely pleased and proud, although rather dishevelled. The other students sit comforting one another, whilst exchanging in conversation about who they fought and how, and what they will do now that Voldermort is gone. Elsie passes Neville and Luna sitting closely together, smiling. Cormac, Ernie Macmillan and other D.A members sit chatting and they smile at her as she passes. Dean and Seamus joke laugh lightly with Aberforth and Cho, Padma, Parvati, Romilda, Leanne and Katie sit chatting, they smile at her as she walks by. She sees Hagrid, looking shaken but happy and they smile at each other and wave but Elsie continues walking until she reaches the Weasley family, sitting together and talking quietly.

"Can I join you?" Elsie asks them quietly and Mrs Weasley holds out her arms to her and they hug each other tightly, before Elsie sits down beside George and listens to the family talk mournfully. McGonagall is placed as Headmistress and Kinglsey soon heads off to start his new job as Minister, trying to round up as many death eaters as possible and freeing all muggle borns locked up in Azkaban.

Elsie tries to be happy, knowing that Voldermort is gone and soon all the death eaters will be rounded up and locked away forever, but she thinks of everyone she lost in the process, and it fails to make her heart lift the way it should. Her father, her mother, Cedric, Williamson, Tonks, Remus, Lavender, Colin, Fred and the 50 others that had lost their lives too. Elsie notices new faces in the crowd, two people she hadn't seen during the battle and had chosen to ignore. Angelina and Alicia stand with Katie, Angelina crying openly, sobbing into Alicia, probably only just hearing the news… Elsie gets to her feet,

"Sorry, excuse me." She says to the Weasleys before heading out of the hall and towards the stairs, thinking of going to visit Myrtle one last time before leaving the castle and helping Kingsley find the remaining death eaters. George runs up behind her,

"Elsie! Where are you going?" he asks her and she turns to him,

"I need to thank someone." She replies, "After that… I don't know… probably to the Ministry." She replies and he nods and Elsie gets a clear glimpse of Angelina crying again, "You should go. Angelina needs you." She says looking back at George, who looks at her sadly,

"You need me." He replies and she chuckles miserably,

"I'm alright… I'm always alright." She replies and he looks at her dejectedly,

"We can't do this can we?" he asks and she shakes her head,

"No. I'm sorry George, you'll always be my best friend, but it would feel like..." Elsie says tailing off. How would it feel to be with George rather than Fred? Like she was leading him on, like she was prepared to forget about Fred as long as there was an almost replica… and both of those things were wrong.

"We'll still be friends though?" he asks her uncertainly and she smiles at him, hugging him tightly,

"Always." She says, releasing him and turning around and heading up to Myrtle's bathroom, one last time, walking along her destroyed, broken and still beloved school.

Twenty- One Years Later ~Epilogue

Elsie walks towards the familiar barrier, pushing a trolley carrying a large trunk, as well as an Owl cage, a small, brown haired girl perched on the end. As they near the barrier, Elsie speeds up into a run and pushes through, the girl laughing as her dad and older brother hurry after them with his trunk.

"Can you see them, can you see them?" Dora asks her mother as they walk along the platform towards the gleaming Scarlet steam engine, and Elsie is shocked at how every time she sees it, her stomach still blooms with nerves. She remembers with a smile on her face how she had found this place, asking Molly for directions… Fred and George grinning at her and helping her with her trunk.

"I think that's them over there." Oliver says helpfully and Elsie peers over the heads of the crowd and sees George standing with Angelina and their two children, Fred and Roxanne.

"C'mon dad!" Elsie's son exclaims pulling his father and the trolley along until he reaches Fred and they begin to talk excitedly about Hogwarts. Cedric Frederick Wood is in third year now, and Fred is just starting, along with Dora who begins to tug on her mother's hand.

"Mum," she mutters quietly, "What if no one likes me?" she asks frightened and Elsie strokes her hair gently,

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard… almost." She adds thinking of some of the things Fred and George used to come out with. "Listen to me, darling. You are going to be so liked at school. You will make so many new friends and have so much fun, just like I did. You just have to be yourself, and everyone will value you for it." She replies and her daughter nods seriously,

"What if I'm put in another house?" she asks,

"Who cares? I don't care if you're not put in Gryffindor, and neither does your dad. Two of my closest friends were in Hufflepuff. Both of them you and your brother are named after. You know Luna?" she asks her daughter who nods, for Luna and her family frequently visited their home, "Luna was in Ravenclaw and so was Cho… and if you're in Slytherin… well Professor Slughorn was in Slytherin and he fought alongside me and your dad, trying to get rid of the death eaters." She says and her daughter smiles at her,

"Ok." She says and she throws her arms around her mother's neck and they walk over to where George stands.

"Hey, Els. Big day today, what are you going to do now the house will be quiet?" George teases her as they hug,

"Oh, I'm sure work will still be busy. Oh, there's Ginny and the others!" she says pointing as Ginny, Harry and their children come towards them, followed by Ron, Hermione and their kids too.

"Hi!" Dora says, waving to Lily and Rose, who both wave back happily, Lily already dressed in her Hogwarts robes.

"Do you know which house you want to be in?" Lily asks Dora excitedly jumping towards her,

"I want to be in Gryffindor!" Hugo, Hermione's son interjects,

"So do I!"

"You'd better be, otherwise granddad Weasley will disinherit you." James Sirius, Ginny and Harry's son warns his little sister as Elsie hugs Ginny and then Hermione in greeting,

"Don't say that!" Fred exclaims looking worriedly at his father who laughs at him,

"Don't worry, son. You'll be in Gryffindor alright. All Weasleys are." He says comfortingly,

"And the hat takes your choice into account. I told it I wanted to be in Gryffindor and now I am." Albus says joining the group. The train whistle blows and Oliver, George, Harry and Ron help lift the childrens' trunks onto the train and Elsie clings to Oliver's arm as she watches as her and her friends children all settle into an empty compartment together, waving out of the window at them as the train begins to move away down the track, Oliver kisses the top of his wife's head as they wave back. Elsie would never forget the family and friends she had lost, and the love she once had, but now, this was a new start for happiness.


End file.
